Solar Water Desalination Plant Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Rising Environmental Pollution - Desalination plants which are powered by renewable energy can lessen the strain on rivers, lakes, and groundwater as sources of freshwater to lessen its negative effects on the environment. Many desalination plants are located in sunny regions where solar energy might offer a more environmentally friendly energy source and help them deal with concerns of sustainability.
• Growing Adoption of Green Energy- Desalination can benefit greatly from the use of renewable energy since it is mostly powered by sources such as solar, wind, wave, geothermal, and blue energy which aids in reducing the need for fossil fuels and contributes to a safer future. According to estimates, future predictions for renewable energy indicate that global solar capacity will increase by over 550 gigawatts (GW) by 2024.
• Increasing Agriculture Industry- Solar desalination, converts saltwater into freshwater that may be used for irrigation or mineralized for drinking, thus promoting sustainable agriculture. For instance, globally, the agriculture industry is expected to expand by over 5% between 2024 and 2028, reaching a market size of around USD 4 trillion by that year.

Challenges

• Side Effects of Desalination on Environment - Waste and hazardous chemicals that are bad for the environment are produced by desalination plants which has the potential to worsen climate change, increase reliance on fossil fuels, and raise greenhouse gas emissions. It is a costly, and energy-intensive process that can have a detrimental effect on how land is used in communities, increase erosion, disrupt the surrounding environment both visually and aurally, and release pollutants into the atmosphere and water. The procedure can produce pollutants, which may be harmful to the marine environment as a result of which mature fish, larvae, or other marine life get sucked into open water surface intake pipes, leading to serious injuries or even death. The main drawbacks of desalination are the creation of brine owing to its dangerously high concentration of salts and other minerals, and brine trash, which is frequently disposed of in the ocean, poses a risk to marine life by suffocating bottom-dwelling organisms and drastically changing coastal ecosystems. Moreover, apart from brine, the desalination process's high energy consumption also has a lot of detrimental environmental repercussions, such as an excessive amount of CO2 emissions.
• Slow adoption of solar water desalination plants owing to high Infrastructure Cost
• Lack or unavailability of sunlight especially during night hours and non-sunny weather