A new, start-up company, Zero Mass Water, has created solar panels that could be a serious game-changer in the current climate of global water-shortage and water scarcity.
These solar panels can passively and efficiently extract water from the sky, purify it, and transport it to the tap. Not only can these solar panels provide clean drinking water but they can also conserve traditional energy, making this a win-win situation.
Cody Friesen, Founder and CEO of the company, said his inspiration for the solar panels came when he was working on another project in Indonesia, when he thought about the abundance of rain, but lack of clean water in the region.
“Everybody’s heard about the latest nanofilter this…or whatever the latest pump technology is. None of those end up being sort of the leapfrog technology that addresses the fact that drinking water is a fundamental human right, and yet we have one person dying every 10 seconds from waterborne illness on the planet,†he said.
[Source: Fastco Exist]
These solar panels, the first of their kind, are constructed from a material that is capable of absorbing water from the air at an extremely accelerated rate, then drawing the water back out to evaporate it and extracting pollutants. Once this purification process is complete, the now distilled water is run through a mineral block, adding calcium and magnesium and improving the taste of the water.
With so many millions of deaths across the globe annually due to waterborne illnesses, the water that these solar panels can provide could save millions of lives and slowly eliminate these diseases, especially in poor and developing countries, which suffer the most as a result of drinking contaminated water.
These solar panels could also make a huge difference to girls and women worldwide who lose around 200 million hours annually, walking long distances to retrieve water. This will also allow more girl-children to get an education, as they currently often miss attending school due to having to fetch water and due to not having clean water for drinking and personal hygiene purposes.
The solar panels are currently being tested in Ecuador, Jordan, and Mexico to test their viability and effectiveness. A single panel can provide enough clean drinking and cooking water for a family of 4, and additional panels can be used on larger buildings, such as hospitals.
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