Design and implementation of a new portable hybrid solar atmospheric water-generation system


 During recent years, atmospheric water generation (AWG) has garnered significant attention among researchers as a viable solution to the water-scarcity problem. Generally, AWG requires dehumidification, which includes two main principles of refrigeration and sorption. Among refrigeration methods, thermoelectric coolers are suitable and, among sorption methods, it is best to utilize desiccant materials with high sorption capacity and low heat generation. In the present study, a portable hybrid/integrated solar AWG system was designed and tested under realistic conditions of Babol, Iran (36.5387°N, 52.6765°E) over four typical summer days between 14 and 31 August 2021. Two models (Models A and B) were designed and evaluated. Temperature, relative humidity, solar irradiance and water-production data were recorded to assess the system performance (i.e. the ratio between the generated water and consumed power in ml/W.hour) and economically analyse the system. Based on the results acquired, the maximum water production in the proposed configuration (acquired from Model B) was 2.12 l/m2.day at an average relative humidity and a temperature of 52% and 36°C, respectively. The desired AWG system had a system performance of 0.19 ml/W.hour, annual water production of 774.4 l/m2, production cost of 0.0246 $/l/m2 and a payback period of 1.19 years.