This solar-powered device makes water from air

A Dutch artist and inventor has developed a solar water maker with no moving parts that he says could run for decades.

Ap Verheggen's device uses a Peltier element, which transfers heat from one side of the device to the other when a current is passed through it, creating a cold side.

"The cooling surface is cooled by Peltier element, which is directly connected to the solar panel, so we don't have a battery, we don't have an inverter, we don't have a fan, so no running parts, so I expect that it will run for decades," he told Reuters.

The system, costing around 50 Euros to construct, uses a 30-50W photovoltaic solar panel to drive an 18W Peltier element, cooling an aluminium block to below the ambient dew point.

"All the energy that's produced is used to cool a surface. Moisture in the air comes to the surface and it starts to condensate and then you have water," Verheggen said.

Verheggen has experimented with different shaped cooling elements, including cones and balls.

After six years of trial and error in developing the solar-powered water maker, Verheggen decided to publish all his findings and related technology online on Sunglacier.com, hoping that university students will find ways to increase the efficiency of his device which currently harvests only a 20cl glass of water per day.

In the US, "Waterseer" has recently developed wind-powered water condenser which extracts atmospheric water in a similar way, only using wind instead of solar energy to power its device.

Wind-powered devices created by Eole Water and tested in Abu Dhabi requested extensive infrastructure, while Verheggen says his "DC3" solar watermaker is completely off the grid and fully sustainable.

In 2011 Verheggen proposed to build a solar-powered refrigeration unit forming an ice sculpture somewhere in the east African desert to challenge popular ideas about climate change. — Reuters