Solar Desalination: Current Applications and Future Potential in MENA Region – A Case Study

Abstract

The Middle East and North African countries are rapidly shifting towards adopting desalination techniques to overcome the shortage of freshwater reservoirs. Climatic conditions of the region showed that these areas are arid or semi-arid with higher solar flux, making them highly suitable for harnessing solar energy. Hence, the technology of solar photovoltaic cells coupling with desalination unit is investigated extensively to treat brackish water in the Middle East and North Africa region. The large-scale usage of this technology can only happen by government quick action and subsidies to encourage installing and commissioning PV desalination plants or coupling the existing ones. This solar desalination technique is highly environmentally friendly with no greenhouse gas emissions. This review study will provide a road map for the future solar-powered desalination plants in the Middle East and North Africa region. It will also identify obstacles in the applicability of the technique and how to overcome these to ensure a sustainable future water production in the Middle East and North Africa region.