Fresh water production by means of solar concentration: the AQUASOLIS project

In 2006, the European Commission approved the specific support action (SSA) “AQUASOLIS” as an instrument for assessing the use of solar trough concentration plants for applications other than heating and cooling, in particular for the production of fresh water for human consumption and for agriculture for Mediterranean countries. The capability of solar trough plants of producing heat at temperatures over ca. 150° permits indeed to envisage the use of solar energy for water purification by distillation. At the same time the high temperature fluid generated by the plant can be used to drive adsorption chillers that can extract water from the atmosphere. The AQUASOLIS project was performed as a parallel investigation to the STREP project REACt which is aimed at the actual development of a heating/cooling solar trough system for Mediterranean countries. The results obtained in the AQUASOLIS project show a high promise of the system to help alleviate the conditions of drought in Mediterranean countries and at the same time boosting the use of renewable energy.