Design and Cost Analysis of a Solar Photovoltaic Powered Reverse Osmosis Plant for Masdar Institute

In this study we designed a cost-effective solar photovoltaic (PV) powered reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plant for Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. The proposed system allowed us to design a RO plant that does not rely on expensive batteries or extra land and drastically decreased the government expenses to subsidize the water production cost to 84% of the current expenses. In additional, the system allowed to reduce the emission of GHG by 1,035 tCO2 annually. The equity payback time was found to be 23.3 years and the benefit-cost ratio to be 0.72. Comparing the results obtained with the conventional values, it can well be said that this system would definitely provide a much needed efficient alternative to the current method of water purification making it more sustainable and economically feasible at the same time. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.