Solar powered Reverse Osmosis - A solution for Energy and Water Crisis

In the next 20 years, energy consumption is expected to increase by 30%, coal consumption will increase by 53%, CO₂ emission will increase by 39%, and Water deficit will be 40%. Energy and Water are top two global challenges in this Millennium. Presently coming to Indian Scenario, the population of India is 1.22 billion, the economy of India is 80 trillion rupees, Energy present is 21 quadrillion BTU, coal is 549 Million MT, Water present is 803 Billion M³ and CO₂ emissions are 1.61 billion MT. These grave figures indicate the need that there is requirement for both Energy and Water and without harming the Environment. Present paper presents a solution for the above water and energy crisis. By using Solar powered Reverse Osmosis this water and energy crisis can be solved in a sustainable way without harming the environment. Solar Powered Reverse Osmosis System was designed and Hybrid optimization model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) was used for simulation and from the results obtained the design has been validated. HOMER software optimizes the combinations based on the Net Present Cost and Net Present Cost of the Solar PV system was found to be least among all the possible Energy combinations.