this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2023
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[–] Transcendant@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It's not just a 10% increase in productivity, it produces fresh water as a byproduct:

Furthermore, the photovoltaic leaf is capable of synergistically utilising the recovered heat to co-generate additional thermal energy and freshwater simultaneously within the same component, significantly elevating the overall solar utilisation efficiency from 13.2% to over 74.5%, along with over 1.1 L/h/m2 of clean water.

[–] DaPorkchop_@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

where does the salt go? wouldn't it build up in the pipes and cause them to get clogged?

[–] IndefiniteBen@feddit.nl 3 points 1 year ago

Another commenter summarized the nature article linked in comments... Yes, the salt is left in the pipes, so they are flushed out at night to prevent buildup.

[–] Nioxic@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago

Only if the water evaporates within the pipes?

[–] Diabolo96@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

1.1l/h/m2 ? That means 25m2 generate 27.5l/h so 660l a day. That's huge.

[–] sushibowl@feddit.nl 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You're assuming full production for 24 hours a day, I don't think that's likely. Maybe 8 hours of full production a day under optimal conditions? Still, ~200 liters a day of potable water seems quite big for a 5x5 area of solar panels.

[–] Diabolo96@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago

Yeah, my bad. Your estimate seems more likely.

[–] Sekki@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thats pretty cool, although that is not even mentioned in the article unless Im missing something.

The article is extremely light on detail

That bleeping lobster linked the actual paper

https://lemmy.world/comment/2756145