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The German company Boreal Light has developed a water desalination technology powered by photovoltaics for off-grid applications. The solution uses 460W solar panels from Chinese module maker DAH Solar and produces clean water from direct seawater at a cost of 0.50 euros ($0.54)/cm3.
Boreal Light, a German technology company, has developed a photovoltaic-powered water desalination machine for off-grid applications.
Winture Planet Cube machines have capacities from 1,000 liters per hour to 50,000 liters per hour. The size of the solar field needed to power these machines depends on three factors: its capacity, the salinity of the water, and the depth of the well from which the water is drawn. The technology uses seawater, wastewater, brackish water or surface water as inputs.
“On average, a 2,000 liter per hour machine requires a photovoltaic array with an installed capacity of 11 kW, for most of the projects we develop in sub-Saharan Africa,” Hamed Beheshti, CEO of Boreal Light , told pv magazine . . Other projects include a 15,000 liter per hour machine in Iraq using a 90 kW photovoltaic system.
Boreal Light oversizes the solar panels to avoid the use of batteries.
“We are totally against the use of batteries because it entails many additional costs, transport and maintenance. Instead of storing electricity from solar panels, we produce more water and store it; its much cheaper,” explains Beheshti. “The Iraq project machine, for example, needs a maximum of 49 kW of electricity.”
Surplus water is often used for fish farming, irrigation and sanitation. The company also uses the surplus electricity to charge the electric cargo bikes used to distribute the water, and to charge the battery banks of the nearby schools.
The solution uses DAH solars 460W monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic panels. The water desalination machines use a low-pressure reverse osmosis membrane with a lifespan of three to five years and are built to last 25 years, according to Beheshti. Its cost of producing water from direct seawater is 0.50 euros (0.54 dollars)/cm3. For brackish water, the price drops to 0.28 euros (0.30 dollars)/cm3. Depending on the capacity, the machine can cost between 20 thousand and one million euros (21.6 thousand and 1.08 million dollars). The companys clients range from aid organizations and NGOs to businesses, farms and hospitals.
The Winture Planet Cube is connected to the Internet via a SIM card, allowing Boreal Light to remotely monitor and control the machines from Berlin.
“We can read 36 sensors from the machines from Berlin. We can also give orders and update the software of the machine with one click. For us, this remote control is part of simplifying operations in remote parts of the world,” says Beheshti.
The company claims that a normal plumber can perform 80% of the machines maintenance with a wrench and screwdriver. It currently has projects in 14 countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. |
