Cold Ray

Bringing zero emission air conditioning technology from space to earth

Cold Ray develops air conditioning systems that operate without consuming electricity. Inspired by technological solutions which presently are used to control the temperature in satellites, Cold Ray aims to bring carbon neutral cooling solutions from space to earth. The core of the product is a radiator which will be placed on the rooftops of buildings, enabling air conditioning through radiative heat exchange with the atmosphere.

Cold Ray’s passive cooling systems have the potential to be a much-needed game changer in a field that is responsible for more CO2 emissions than aviation and shipping combined.

The founding team, Felix von Plehwe and Kim Hecker, were classmates in school. They went on to specialize in rather different fields, with Felix von Plehwe pursuing a PhD in jet-engine technology at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Kim Hecker pursuing a PhD in Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University. Bringing together their different experiences and areas of expertise, they now want to make their vision of green cooling a reality.

Cold Ray currently is in its founding phase. The cooling technology which it develops is a radical innovation that - in addition to technical R&D - requires deep market analyses in order to be effectively introduced into global markets.

The envisioned cooling technology operates on principles and processes closely linked to those of the greenhouse effect. Whilst developing the concept, existing data and models were found to be insufficient to predict the cooling capacity of the product for different regions of the world. Therefore, a climatic model is being built with the help of partner research institutes. Together with experts from ERGO and Munich Re, the team would like to discuss insurance aspects of their business model.