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American Startup Technology Is Already Tested In More Than 50 Countries Around The World
With climate change, drinking water is becoming increasingly valuable and contested by countries. According to UNICEF data, one in three people on the planet does not have access to drinking water. Furthermore, data reveals that half of the global population will live in water-scarce areas in the coming years.
Technology Invented In 2014 Could Save The Planet
Source Global, a company based in the United States, is working on a technology that can extract drinking water from air and sunlight. Additionally, the equipment can do all of this in remote areas of the planet and without electric power.
How Does The Technology Work? Source Global produces hydropanels that use solar energy to condense completely clean and pollutant-free drinking water. Basically, it is a system that resembles a common solar panel quite a bit; however, instead of producing energy, it is capable of producing drinking water.
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The system has common solar panels that capture energy and operate the device without the need for an external power source. The energy is used to spin fans that are in the panels. The fans draw in ambient air and blow it onto an absorptive material that captures the water. The water vapor becomes trapped and is then extracted and collected.
The equipment also contains minerals that make the water potable and ready to use. The company has already installed about 450 panels in 52 countries around the world.
Thomas Borns, sales manager of Source Global in the United States, explained how the technology of the panels for producing drinking water works.
“What we do inside our machine is cause passive condensation and use efficient means to collect the water. The Hydropanel consists of a traditional solar panel that powers the entire system. Surrounding it on both sides are these two dark rectangles that we call thermal solar panels that absorb as much thermal energy as possible.”
The system managed to attract the attention of Bill Gates, one of the richest men in the world. Through Breakthrough Energy, the billionaire’s company, US$ 150 million was invested in the startup.
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