Buildings as Power Stations for Rural Indian Applications

The aim of the project is to design and create a solar thermal powered desalination unit for producing fresh water.

The desalination device will be combined with a transpired solar collector to produce fresh water by utilising solar thermal energy. The initial design will be used to test different operating conditions to find the optimum parameters for obtaining maximum water production whilst maintaining a low energy input. The aim will then be to improve the design to increase the water production and the efficiency. The challenges of the project to overcome are achieving maximum water production whilst balancing this with low energy consumption. As well as this, the desalination device needs to be integrated into the design of the active building to allow for the device to use the heated air from the transpired solar collector to evaporate the water. The complexity of the system must be considered as this will increase the energy consumption.

The project also includes the design considerations for the active buildings to be built in India. In this part of the project, the difference in requirements of the building compared to the UK will be assessed such as the climate conditions. This includes the effect that dust has on the photovoltaic panels.