Emerging technologies to sustainability: A comprehensive study on solar desalination for sustainable development

Abstract

Due to global warming and the salinity of drinkable natural resources, water scarcity has become a significant impediment to the development of many regions of the world, prompting the development of novel desalination techniques for brackish and seawater. The only way to satisfy society's freshwater demands is to transform abundant seawater into potable water by desalination. Numerous research efforts have been effective in establishing large desalination plants. However, significantly fewer attempts are made for dry regions where low-cost, maintenance-free, and low-operational-cost approaches are required. Both rapidly developing and underdeveloped nations struggle to provide their populations with pure drinking water. In the desalination sector, CO₂ emissions and significant ecological problems have increased. The desalination sector may be sustainable by integrating renewable energy and using proper brine disposal techniques. In this review, various desalination systems that incorporate renewable energy sources, with an emphasis on solar energy, are examined. The main objective of this paper is to explain what solar desalination is, why it is performed, and what techniques can be used to make desalination more structured and cost-effective. In addition, this study provides a comprehensive review of all the solar desalination systems, indirect and direct, along with plant-specific technical data. In addition, the efforts that have been made to evaluate the economic viability of each desalination technology and the elements that determine its cost are discussed.