Journal
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Volume 36, Issue 12, Pages 3246-3256Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2011.03.040
Keywords
Photovoltaic; Reverse osmosis; Feasibility; Small-scale; Rural
Funding
- King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia through the Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUPM
- Cyprus Institute
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This paper presents a generalized methodology to evaluate the feasibility of photovoltaic-powered reverse osmosis (PVRO) systems for small, remote communities in challenging environments. The economic feasibility is determined by comparing the cost of water from a photovoltaic reverse osmosis system with the cost of water obtained using conventional diesel-powered reverse osmosis. For PVRO systems, the feasibility is a function of location due to variation in solar resource, water type, system demand and local governmental policies. A series of sample cases were analyzed to demonstrate the method. Analysis for community-scale seawater reverse osmosis systems was carried out for various locations using Geographic Information System (GIS) data. A site-specific analysis has been completed for seawater and brackish water reverse osmosis systems. It was found that photovoltaic-powered reverse osmosis is feasible for the majority of remote locations with a large solar resource. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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