Innovative solar desalination system could provide low-cost drinking water for millions
Scientists have built a solar-powered desalination system that does not need expensive batteries and which could produce vast amounts of low-cost drinking water for millions around the world. The innovative plant, which was designed by MIT researchers, responds quickly to subtle changes in the level of sunlight – such as a passing cloud – to make the most of the available solar energy. As a result, it requires no extra batteries for energy storage, nor a supplemental power supply, and therefore can produce large amounts of drinking water with exclusively renewable energy. The MIT engineers behind the project tested a community-scale prototype on groundwater wells in New Mexico in the US over six months. The system produced up to 5,000 litres of water per day, despite large swings in weather and available sunlight, and used more than 94 per cent of the electrical energy generated from the system’s solar panels.
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