Passive Edge develops phase-change materials, thermal-storage plates, stacked thermal cores and project-scale cooling cabins in Ningbo, China—turning PCM material performance into deployable cooling and heat-storage capacity.
Cold-room storage
Standard PCM plates and partner equipment add a dispatchable cooling reserve to existing cold rooms. Materials, heat exchange and controls work together to support cost management, stable temperatures and practical retrofits.
01 / Electricity cost
Charge off-peak or with surplus solar; release cooling during peak periods to reduce expensive refrigeration loads and demand pressure. Include storage losses and auxiliary electricity in the assessment.
02 / Temperature stability
Absorb heat during loading, load changes and short outages to slow temperature rise and provide response time. Coordinated controls can reduce compressor short cycling.
03 / Retrofit
Use floor stacks, racks or in-room modules. The SolarCool Kit approach can reduce alterations to refrigerant piping; assess airflow, loading, access and available space.
Historical partner equipment comparison
These figures come from Solar Tribe / SolarCool Kit comparisons cited on the previous website. The original test report and full operating conditions have not yet been recovered. They remain historical results awaiting source verification, not a performance promise for UltraST material or every cold room.
| Comparison metric | SolarCool Kit | Reference ice boxes |
|---|---|---|
| Cooling time in the 2 h quick test | 60 min | 115 min |
| Retention after refrigeration stops | 21.67 h | 9.08 h |
| Temperature rise rate | 0.300 °C/h | 0.837 °C/h |
| Daily compressor starts | 2 /day | 45 /day |
41.6%
Historical partner material reports 41.6% lower electricity cost. This is a cost result for a particular operating strategy, not 41.6% less electricity consumption. Tariffs, loads, auxiliaries and losses still need to be checked against the original source.
Results depend on temperature, load, tariffs and heat exchange. Electricity cost savings and energy reduction are assessed separately; no universal savings rate or holdover duration is promised.
Passive Edge supplies UltraST PCM, material selection and technical data. Solar Tribe designs, manufactures, certifies and delivers SolarCool Kit. Record room temperature, loads, tariffs, door openings and refrigeration operation, then validate bills, cargo temperatures and cycling in a single-room pilot.
Back to cold storage and logisticsPCM thermal energy storage stores cooling or heat as latent energy while a phase-change material changes state at a selected temperature. A PCM TES system combines the material with containment, heat-transfer surfaces, a heat-transfer fluid or airflow path, controls and the host cooling or heating system. It does not eliminate thermal load; it shifts when that load must be served.
Searches for thermal energy storage, TES and PCM TES often refer to different layers of the same project. Separating those layers makes specification and supplier scope clearer.
| Layer | Function | Passive Edge scope |
|---|---|---|
| PCM material | Stores latent heat at the selected phase temperature. | Organic, inorganic and composite PCM families; phase-point selection and technical data. |
| Containment and plate | Keeps PCM sealed and creates a repeatable exchange surface. | SemiST and UltraST plates, shape-stabilized materials and application-specific formats. |
| Thermal core or module | Combines plates and flow paths into usable thermal capacity. | Stacked thermal cores, modular assemblies and selected cooling-cabin formats. |
| System integration | Connects the store to chillers, heat pumps, liquid loops, airflow and controls. | Sizing inputs, material/module selection, validation planning and collaboration with integrators. |
The correct phase-change temperature, charge window and heat-exchanger design depend on the operating temperature and load profile of each project.
PCM thermal buffers absorb short-duration cooling-loop peaks, support recovery windows and help shift cooling demand.
Cold energy storage supports outage hold time, temperature stability, compressor scheduling and solar or off-peak charging.
Comfort-range PCM can add thermal memory to rooms or provide compact active storage for heat-pump and HVAC systems.
Configurable phase temperatures support process buffering, waste-heat recovery, LNG cold-energy recovery and thermal-load shifting.
Capacity in kWh is only one part of a useful system design. Thermal power, flow path and recovery conditions must be checked at the same time.
| Input | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| 1. Target temperature band | Defines the usable phase-change temperature and approach temperature. |
| 2. Peak thermal load | Defines the required charge or discharge power in kW or MW. |
| 3. Peak duration | Defines the initial thermal capacity requirement in kWh or MWh. |
| 4. Charge and recovery window | Shows whether the store can be recharged before the next peak. |
| 5. Heat-transfer fluid and flow | Constrains heat-exchanger geometry, pressure drop and compatibility. |
| 6. Footprint, tariff and control logic | Connects the engineering design to site feasibility and economic value. |
Passive Edge develops PCM materials and deployable thermal-capacity formats from its China technology platform, with international project collaboration.
Released products are supported by technical data sheets covering phase-change temperature, latent heat, thermal conductivity, cycling and chemistry.
Passive Edge supplies materials, plates/modules, selected cooling-cabin formats and engineering inputs. Complete equipment and site delivery may be performed with integration partners.
PCM TES stands for phase change material thermal energy storage. TES is the broader category; PCM TES is the latent-heat-storage branch that uses a phase change material.
All three shift thermal demand over time. PCM can be selected for a specific operating temperature and can offer higher storage density than sensible-water storage. Ice storage uses a fixed 0 °C phase-change temperature and usually requires lower charging temperatures. The best option depends on the plant, tariff, space and temperature band.
Passive Edge is a China-based PCM technology and product company in Ningbo. We supply PCM materials, plates and modules, selected cooling-cabin formats, technical data and engineering inputs. Complete system equipment may be manufactured and delivered with project integration partners.
Yes. The function depends on the selected phase temperature and system design. Our published options cover sub-zero cold storage, chilled-water ranges, comfort temperatures and higher-temperature heat storage.
Share the target temperature, thermal-load profile, peak duration, available recovery window, heat-transfer fluid, flow conditions, site footprint, operating schedule and project location.