Published May 24, 2019, 10:00 PM By Myrna M.
Velasco
MUNICH, Germany – In sunny as well
as archipelagic jurisdictions, solar photovoltaic (PV) technology solutions are
similarly being dangled to help countries deal with their water crisis
dilemmas.
In the recently concluded Intersolar
Europe, a report released by the UN World Water Development has noted that
PV-based solutions “make possible the transport, desalination and disinfection
of water” primarily for off-grid and rural areas.
Via a process called “reverse
osmosis,” it was explained that PV-supported systems can desalinate “brackish
and salt water” which will then turn that into viable and clean drinking water
for humans.
As noted by the European Union (EU),
such solution has been piloted in Witsand, South Africa – wherein with the
integration of solar energy system, they were able to produce 100 cubic meters
of clean water per day.
“The EU is testing electrodialysis
as a viable option for the desalination of salt and brackish water. Water
disinfection systems can also be powered by solar energy,” it said. This is
done under the auspices of Revived water project that comprises of 10 companies
and research institutes organized by six European countries. It further
qualified that “the most commonly available systems are off-grid water
treatment systems that rely on a combination of UV disinfection and solar
energy.”
Joachim Went, project leader at the
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Germany, indicated that a
sizeable part of the global market is now establishing itself into adopting PV
pumping systems to address the need for clean water sources.
As Went emphasized “solar-power
pumping systems offer another invaluable approach to drinking water supply and
agricultural irrigation in sunny and arid rural regions.” And this is seen
scalable to similarly situated countries, like in the tropics where the
Philippines is also positioned.
He further noted that “solar pumps
are typically operated off-grid,” and oftentimes, these are integrated with
general utility grid or as part of a mini-grid leaning on renewable energy
technologies.
Both the EU and the United Nations
acknowledged that lack of water supply or crisis situations remained a major
problem for many countries globally – and solar PVs could just be the next big
thing to address that.
To-date, it was noted that 2.1
billion people worldwide don’t have access to clean drinking water; while 3.6
billion people (or almost half of the total global population) live in areas
which are threatened by water shortages.
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