Collecting Rainwater From Solar Panels
Over 6 years ago, Zero Mass Water started out on a mission to create solar panels that can be used to bring clean drinking water to the world.
The technology was first developed at Arizona State University and has since been used in a number of countries to help bring clean drinking water to communities; places like Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Lebanon, and Jordan.
What they created was a set of hygroscopic materials that are porous enough to be able to rapidly absorb water. The water goes through a mineralized filter and can be sent directly to the kitchen tap or stored somewhere else.
It's helping to bring water independence to many and now folks in the US will be able to get their hands on the technology as the Source panels have been recently launched in that market.
Each panel is going to cost around $2000 and will need to be maintained, with filters and mineral blocks needing to be replaced etc. And it can generate between 2-5 liters of water every day; depending on the humidity and sunlight. They want to be able to bring clean drinking water to as many as they can, whether that means a refugee camp in Syria, an orphanage in Mexico City, or a mansion in San Francisco. Their ideal customer is everyone.
And Zero Water Mass isn't the only project seeking to do this, there are others that have also been developed. Like the project known as Water-Gen that's also seeking to remove the humidity, purify the air and transform it into clean drinking water.
Today it's estimated that 1 in 9 people lack access to clean drinking water and this sort of innovation could go a long way toward meeting that basic need for millions. It's estimated that by using this solar technology for drinking water, that it could help to get rid of 70,000 plastic bottles over 10 years.
Pics:
Pixabay
via Duke Energy
via Zero Mass Water /BI
Sources:
http://www.businessinsider.com/zero-mass-solar-panels-water-from-air-launch-us-2017-12
https://www.forbes.com/sites/miguelhelft/2017/11/15/meet-zero-mass-water-whose-solar-panels-pull-drinking-water-from-the-air/#646e001a370e
http://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/new-technology-uses-air-and-sunlight-to-produce-drinking-water_o
https://illumination.duke-energy.com/articles/from-thin-air-clean-drinking-water
https://www.timesofisrael.com/extracting-water-from-air-israeli-firm-looks-to-quench-global-thirst/
https://water.org/our-impact/water-crisis/
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/24/tech/innovation/machine-makes-drinking-water-from-air/index.html
Related Posts:
Using Graphene To Turn Seawater Into Drinking Water
https://steemit.com/water/@doitvoluntarily/using-graphene-to-turn-seawater-into-drinking-water
Edible Water Bottles: The Future Of Packaged Water
https://steemit.com/business/@doitvoluntarily/edible-water-bottles-the-future-of-packaged-water
Rainwater Harvesting Growing In Popularity
https://steemit.com/nature/@doitvoluntarily/rainwater-harvesting-growing-in-popularity
These panels will do wonders for people living in countries with very humid climates.
And the impact this tech could have on the plastic mess we've created in the oceans - that is if it's adopted en mass - can't be overestimated.
wow ive didnt know anything about this proyect but seems incredible. INCREDIBLE POST @doitvoluntarily
thx for checking it out :)
Clean water is always good news and getting more important every day. If we think we are in chaos and conflict now, wait till we have no water. Thanks for bringing knowledge and touting the technology available.
my last post contains a free gift Happy New year everyone!
This is very good news to end the year, good that there are companies like these that are intended to help improve the quality of life of people.
Thank you very much dear friend @doitvoluntarily for this wonderful information.
Have a great day
Hey @doitvoluntarily
This technology is still new and expensive, but probably it'll be cheaper on the future and everyone will get the chance to have it!
Nice post!
Such technology will be most needed by people living in war torn countries, draughts and famine rather than well off countries. If it's up to me those country would be top on my priorities list in order install such technology.
Looks more or less like a laboratory project. Harvesting 2-5 litres of water a day cannot meet the water need of a single individual, let alone that of a family. When compared with other cost effective ways of producing clean water, zero mass has a very high production/maintenance cost. Did you say $2000 ? Ahh! Outrageous.
5L of water per day should be sufficient for an adult, not a family youre right, but the 2k is for 1 panel and the 5L is an average of what 1 panel produces so a family would need a few more and a 5k startup fee on top of that 2k lol bit pricey!
I like the technology, but the people who do not have clean water normally is the poor, @ $2000 for 5 litters of water (without maintenance), it will be very expensive.
Why will this technology reduce the number of plastic bottles?
Nice and interesting post.
each panel produces roughly 5L per day so it isn't 2000= 5L.. over time you would end up getting much more than 5L :) it would reduce the # of plastic bottles for people who opted to use this drinking water instead of buying the water bottles
I worked with a company who provides solar panels to communities in Nepal at a very cheap rate. The income from the cheap energy from the solar panels eventually pays back the initial investors and every benefits. It can be a great system, especially for the poor. It just needs to be implemented correctly.
http://ghampower.com/
Interesting piece. It reminds me of visiting the Energy Efficient model homes in Minnesota where the design (solar panels, wind turbines, direction windows faced etc) had more than one energy saving purpose. These solar panels appear to be a game changer. I imagine the solar panels act as an efficient water heater as well?
There are photovoltaic thermal hybrid solar collectors (PV-T - Collectors). These systems combine a solar cell, which converts sunlight into electricity, with a solar thermal collector, which captures the remaining energy and removes waste heat from the PV module. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaic_thermal_hybrid_solar_collector
Thanks, I'll check out the Wiki page. The plan is to convert to Solar Power this year!
Very interesting - and thanks for providing links to the other articles. There are so many new, exciting projects out there...enjoy trying to keep up with it all! --- Will be following you....