Review of solar-powered reverse osmosis desalination systems: structure, performance, and efficiency.

Water scarcity is intensifying worldwide due to climate change and poor resource management, while rising sea levels threaten coastal regions and ecosystems. Addressing these interconnected challenges requires sustainable solutions to secure freshwater supplies and protect vulnerable communities. Solar-powered desalination has emerged as a promising approach for converting seawater and brackish water into potable water. This review critically examines recent advancements in solar desalination technologies, focusing on improvements in performance, efficiency, and sustainability. Solar desalination systems offer a clean, noise-free, and cost-effective alternative to conventional methods, particularly in arid and remote regions. The study highlights the benefits of integrating waste heat into desalination processes, which can reduce costs and enhance overall efficiency. Additionally, the review finds that incorporating batteries into photovoltaic (PV) reverse osmosis (RO) desalination is impractical due to high capital and maintenance costs. However, energy recovery devices eliminate the need for preheating feed water, particularly in PV RO systems. Currently, most operational RO plants rely on PV energy, while solar thermal desalination - using parabolic trough collectors (PTCs) with organic Rankine cycle (ORC) technology - remains in the research phase. Although the PTC-ORC-RO system presents a promising solution, large-scale implementation has yet to be realised.