Water desalination has become one of the best alternatives for combating water stress affecting a growing number of cities and communities, as evidenced by the large number of plants already operating worldwide and the number of new plant projects currently underway. But desalination has several drawbacks: these are centralized facilities that require the use of chemicals and consumable parts and have a relatively high carbon footprint.

The Dutch company Desolenator offers an alternative solution: distilling water with modular units that use solar energy and feature low capital and operating costs, with no consumable parts, no chemicals, and no CO2 emissions.

The Desolenator system uses solar panels that capture both electrical and thermal energy from the sun (by also capturing heat, the panel cools down and becomes more efficient at generating electricity). Unused electricity is stored in batteries, while unused heat is stored in hot water tanks equipped with a thermal storage system, ensuring the system operates 24 hours a day.

This energy powers a device designed to distill complex water and convert it into high-quality pure water. The system features a water mineralization process to make it suitable for consumption or for specific industrial applications.

The beauty of the system, says Desolenator, is that it consists of modular units, each capable of purifying 250 cubic meters of water per day; they are easily scalable and have a wide range of applications. The company is currently implementing two projects using this system, one in Dubai and another in the Indian state of West Bengal.

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