Solar Water Desalination: Reverse Osmosis, Electrodialysis, and Mechanical Vapor Compression Desalination Methods

Solar energy desalination is a method by which the sun’s energy is used to desalinate brackish or seawater to produce fresh drinkable water. There are two methods for using solar energy: directly by heating and evaporating the brackish or seawater in a solar still (this method is called solar distillation) and indirectly by capturing solar energy using one of the techniques that transform solar radiation into thermal or electrical energy to drive a conventional desalination method (the indirect method is called solar-assisted or solar-driven desalination). (more…)