Chennai-based Swelect Energy Systems Ltd, in collaboration with US-based Zero Mass Water, has launched Source, a water solar panel that will provide pure drinking water using sunlight and air. Water vapour from the air is drawn into Source via fans, following which special materials absorb the water. The vapour is collected as the air flow passes through a condenser, then flows into a reservoir where it is mineralised with calcium and magnesium. Water is pumped through a polishing cartridge before being delivered to a dispenser. Source, which is a hydropanel, mineralises and delivers water to a tap for any purpose. It doesn’t require any electrical input.
The price per panel will be ₹2 lakh and it will generate up to 5 litres of water per day depending on the humidity and sun light. The panel will last about 15 years. There is also a storing facility underneath a panel that can hold 30 litres.
“The water will taste better than bottled water and the total cost of ownership will be cheaper when compared with bottled water,” said R Chellappan, Managing Director, Swelect Energy Systems Ltd.
Source is a combination of solar PV, material science and other technologies. It is a standalone product and can work anywhere – on top of the building or on the ground. It can be installed immediately and doesn’t discharge anything like RO (reserve osmosis) systems.
“The product is very similar to solar PV. It is scalable and we can do one panel per home to 100 panels for a village,” said Robert Bartrop, Executive Vice President– Business Development, Zero Mass Water.
Chellappan explained that Source is truly renewable as the use of hydropanels is equal to eliminating the plastic and water waste of bottled and filtered water.
Swelect, which is the distribution partner for Zero Mass Water in India, will target to sell Source panels to government-run programmes on water and also to retail and institutional markets through its network of channel partners. “We have already received some good responses and in the next 30 days, we hope to do 80 installations across the country,” he said.
The company will target primary health centres, schools, large villas, resorts and water-starved places.
Bartrop said Source panels have been installed in 15 countries.
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