Access to drinking water is one of the great challenges of the 21st century. While 70% of our planet is covered by water, only a small percentage is suitable for human consumption. Desalination, that is, the removal of salt from seawater or brackish wells, is presented as a promising solution. However, high energy costs and dependence on fossil fuels have limited its implementation on a large scale. But that was the case until now.
MIT researchers have developed a revolutionary desalination system that runs exclusively on solar energy, eliminating the need for batteries and opening up a new range of possibilities for bringing drinking water to water-scarce communities.
Traditional solar desalination systems rely on batteries to store the energy generated by solar panels. This is because sunlight intensity fluctuates throughout the day, while the desalination process requires a constant supply of energy.
However, batteries are expensive, have a limited lifespan, and pose an environmental risk when disposed of.
The key to the new system, recently published in the journal Nature Water , lies in its ability to adapt to solar energy fluctuations in real time.
Instead of storing energy in batteries, this smart system constantly adjusts the desalination process to the amount of solar energy available. An ultra-precise control mechanism measures the energy received from the sun three times per second and directs it directly to the desalination system.
The result? A production of drinking water that fluctuates throughout the day, reflecting the intensity of the sun, but completely eliminating the need for batteries.
The research team has not limited itself to the laboratory. For six months, they tested their desalination system in brackish water wells in Mexico. The results are more than encouraging: the system produced 5,000 liters of drinking water per day, successfully adapting to variations in solar energy throughout the day.
This innovation has the potential to revolutionize the way drinking water is produced around the world. By eliminating batteries, the system becomes:
. More economical: it reduces installation, maintenance and replacement costs.
. More sustainable: it minimizes environmental impact by avoiding the use of batteries.
. More flexible: it allows installation in remote locations without access to the electrical grid.
And a very interesting detail is that solar panels are continually falling in price while their performance improves, so the desalination system will become cheaper over time.
The researchers have already taken the first steps to bring this technology to market. Their goal is to create a company that manufactures and distributes these solar desalination systems, bringing drinking water to communities that urgently need it.
Adaptable, battery-free solar desalination is not just a technological breakthrough, it is a crucial step towards a future with clean water for all.
Hopefully it will be on the market sooner rather than later.
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