They look like solar panels but, instead of electricity, they produce water.
Zero Mass Water, an Arizona start-up, has combined the two technologies. Proprietary materials inside the panel absorb water from the atmosphere, the way that an open bowl of sugar gets lumpy as it soaks up humidity. The panel’s dark surface collects sunshine and makes electricity.
Another material in the panel heat ups the material absorbing the water so that the water is released and recondensed. It’s then gathered into a 30-liter container – about 31 quarts – below the panel.
The technology’s first commercial installation is at a West Virginia food bank. The 24 panels, funded by nonprofits, will yield the equivalent of about 7,200 bottles of water a month.
Each panel is priced at $2,000 and carries a $500 installation fee.
TRENDPOST: The worsening global water shortage crisis is bringing out the best in engineers, entrepreneurs, and their investors. The new “water economy” will inspire a range of profitable new technologies and become a prominent growth sector of the world’s 21st-century economy for at least the next two decades.
