Challenge Question
Can solar thermal desalination address global challenges around access to clean water?
Partner: CooperLab
Project Summary
One in six people in the world do not have access to clean water, and one in three lack basic sanitation, which relies on clean water. This project aims to find a low-cost, scalable solution to challenges around clean water access that incorporates solar-thermal desalination and uses locally available materials. Desalination is a promising technology that can convert seawater to clean drinking water, but it uses large amounts of energy. Using sunlight to provide the heat for an evaporator-condenser to collect clean drinking water could provide a low-cost solution that can be adapted to both small and large scales to address global clean water needs. Other aspects of the project include market research, conceptual design, prototype fabrication, prototype testing, and product design and optimization. The research team will have access to state-of-the-art solar testing facilities in the CooperLab on the fifth floor of the Bergeron Centre at York, as well as the design and fabrication facilities available in the Design Commons and Sandbox on the second floor of the Bergeron Centre. The team should consist of an interdisciplinary group with background knowledge and/or experience in engineering design; approaches such as electricity, heat transfer, and structural/thermal analysis; materials as assets; and the socio-economic barriers that exist in developing and remote communities. Because CooperLab is also interested in commercializing the technology following the success of the project, students with an interest in startup or commercialization activities are also encouraged to apply.
Want to learn more? Click here!Sustainable Development Goals
Partner Video
Organizational Profile
Dr. Thomas Cooper is a York University Mechanical Engineering professor whose research unites the fields of thermal science, optics, and materials. The CooperLab conducts fundamental and applied research on emerging energy technologies. Its current focus aims to overcome the intermittent nature of solar power and other renewable energy resources, allowing them to be harnessed, stored, and converted into electricity, heat, and fuels, and resulting in a renewable energy infrastructure that rivals the current fossil fuel infrastructure in terms of both cost and reliability. Dr. Cooper has received the ASME Solar Energy Graduate Student Award, the ETH Medal, the Hans Eggenberger Prize, and the Chorafas Prize for his work on low-cost solar energy technologies. He is also a recipient of PGS-M and PGS-D Fellowships from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and an Early Postdoc Mobility Fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Partner Website
Learn more about the kind of work the project partner does by browsing their website.
Additional Resources
Key Words
- Solar Power
- Clean Water
- Desalination
- Remote Communities
- Development