Engineers at MIT and in China are aiming to turn seawater into drinking water with a completely passive device that is inspired by the ocean, and powered by the sun.
In a paper appearing today in the journal Joule, the team outlines the design for a new solar desalination system that takes in saltwater and heats it with natural sunlight.
The researchers estimate that if the system is scaled up to the size of a small suitcase, it could produce about 4 to 6 liters of drinking water per hour and last several years before requiring replacement parts. At this scale and performance, the system could produce drinking water at a rate and price that is cheaper than tap water.
‘Cheaper’….desalination eats a lot of power. This is causing a huge problem over a minor inconvenience.
If you read about this device you’ll find it’s solar powered. Solar powered desalinization boxes are nothing new, but this one doesn’t get clogged quickly like previous models have. If it scales up as well as they’re hoping this could really help a ton of people.
The article explicitly states that it is directly powered by the sun.
I've heard this one before and the systems never scale w/o subsidy and/or capture of the salts for industrial/rare earth use.
And how does buying panels or power make it cheaper than filtering river water?
Getting water to places that don't have access to fresh water is not a minor inconvenience.