The potential of solar-driven humidification-dehumidification desalination for small-scale decentralized water production. Science and technology for water purification in the coming decades. Solar thermal technologies as a bridge from fossil fuels to renewables. Worldwide, the use of non-concentrated solar thermal power ( ∼200 GW) 27 outnumbers the use of concentrated solar thermal power ( ∼5 GW).ĭalvi, V. Although optical concentration is at present necessary for applications that require high temperatures, such as concentrated solar power generation, solar thermal technologies that reduce or completely eliminate the reliance on optical concentration would have better market penetration.
In addition, they require support structures and access to electrical energy to track the sun. Plasmonic nanoparticles with absorption and scattering cross-sections exceeding their geometrical cross-sections have been recently developed and applied for direct solar steam generation 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, but they typically require optical concentration of 10–1,000× for steam generation However, optical concentrators are expensive (US$200 m −2) 25, often accounting for a major portion of the capital cost of solar thermal systems 8, 11, 26. Optical concentrators, such as parabolic troughs, heliostats and lenses, can concentrate the ambient solar flux tens or even thousands of times to achieve high temperatures 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Steam and vapour generation is often desired in these applications, but the dilute solar flux (1,000 W m −2) does not provide enough power per unit area of the absorber to reach the required high temperatures and to compensate for the large latent heat of water vaporization. Solar thermal technologies, that is, the conversion of the sunlight to thermal energy, are being developed for many applications, such as power generation, domestic water heating, desalination, and other industrial processes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. The sun is a promising and abundant source of renewable energy that can potentially solve many of society’s challenges.
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