Chinese Desalination Plant Cuts Energy Use 60% and Turns Brine Into Sellable Salt

Chinese Desalination Plant Cuts Energy Use 60% and Turns Brine Into Sellable Salt

Desalination has long carried a double burden. Conventional plants consume between 3 and 10 kilowatt-hours per cubic metre of freshwater they produce, and they leave behind concentrated brine that is costly to manage. A facility in Caofeidian, Tangshan, China, now claims to have solved both problems at once, cutting energy consumption by 60% against the … Read more

Solar Panel Soiling: How Much Output Uncleaned Panels Really Lose

Solar Panel Soiling: How Much Output Uncleaned Panels Really Lose

Nobody warns you at the point of sale what happens when a photovoltaic array goes months without rain and dust settles across the cells. The efficiency penalty is real, measurable and — in many cases — avoidable with basic upkeep. The International Energy Agency estimates that soiling costs residential installations between 4% and 7% of … Read more