Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rainwater cisterns are a viable option if you have rain.
And if you dont?
Then you probably don't have humidity either, so the collector won't work.
Google open sources solar atmospheric water generator
131–140 of 246 posts
Re: Google open sources solar atmospheric water generator
#132Re: Google open sources solar atmospheric water generator
#133Check out Thunderf00t's videos cricising solar water collectors, e.g.: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc7WqVMCABg - Zero Mass Water: BUSTED! "Honestly, it drives me crazy how many people have reinvented the dehumidifier, put a solar panel on it, and the media has danced around like theyve just saved the world!" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPvXnmBIO7o - Self-filling water bottle: BUSTED! " The fact that its t…
Thunderf00t is hit and miss. Some videos are scepticism, small mindedness, long pessimistic rant without substance and no debunking
Which debunking video was like that?
Re: Google open sources solar atmospheric water generator
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
And if you dont?
Then you probably don't have humidity either, so the collector won't work.
No, that's not true; it's just less efficient because you have to handle more air and cool it to a lower temperature. Air in Earth's atmosphere always has significant humidity. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30716765 for some calculations.
It's reasonable to condense drinking/cooking water from air with solar energy in places that lack secure water. Not water for other purposes; you can't run a cooling tower, irrigate a field or an orchard, water a herd of cattle, or even grow a garden that way. But a household-sized dehumidifier powered by a household-sized solar panel can certainly make enough water to drink and cook rice.
On the other hand, if you live in semi-arid desert or any wetter biome, a cistern probably has a better cost-benefit ratio. Depending on your aquifer, a well may be better still.
Re: Google open sources solar atmospheric water generator
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
Many people don't have good access to clean water, over 2B according to the repo's readme. Those people probably cannot afford $150, but the goal of the project wasn't $150, it was lower. The unit is supposed to be solar powered, so access to electricity isn't strictly necessary, in the sense of being able to connect to the grid. They just need sunlight. There is a sweet spot of cost, where those who need it can't af…
Did you look at the presentation deck in the linked repository? It clearly says "$150 target price point" It also clearly shows an electric circulating fan in the diagrams.
> Data and geospatial tools around access to safe drinking water are provided here to aid academic reproducibility and advancement in the context of the Nature Paper “Global Potential of Harvesting Drinking Water from Air using Solar Energy”.
Again from the readme.
You're correct that the slide deck mentions a $150 price point. The readme mentions cheap as less than 5% of total income. If we assume the poorest people in the world, who walk miles each day to access water, then we are talking about income levels of ~$365-$730 a year. 5% of that is less than $150.
All of my points still stand. Project X at Google set out to solve one of the very hard problems in the world, and made their findings and work available to the public for free. It's clearly not supposed to be something going to market, so asking who will buy it that needs fresh water is obtuse, IMO.
Re: Google open sources solar atmospheric water generator
#136Dean Kamen claimed on the Colbert Report in 2008 to have invented a machine that can produce 1000 liters per day.
Re: Google open sources solar atmospheric water generator
#137"Atmospheric water generators" (or: dehumidifiers) aren't new, the problem is that other means of obtaining water are almost always the better option (this includes access to funds, knowledge or materials). The places where this device would be helpful would only be helped if a bunch of them materialised out of thin air and would work with no maintenance or repairs, forever.
Re: Google open sources solar atmospheric water generator
#138Estimated $150 price point. Requires an electric motor to circulate air. What is the intersection of people who a) can afford an expenditure of $150, b) have reliable access to electricity and can pay for it, and c) can't get their hands on five liters of clean water a day?
Many people don't have good access to clean water, over 2B according to the repo's readme. Those people probably cannot afford $150, but the goal of the project wasn't $150, it was lower. The unit is supposed to be solar powered, so access to electricity isn't strictly necessary, in the sense of being able to connect to the grid. They just need sunlight. There is a sweet spot of cost, where those who need it can't af…
I don’t see how it can be that billions of people lack clean water. It must be plentiful enough and clean enough for the billions of people to exist. If it wasn’t they wouldn’t.
Re: Google open sources solar atmospheric water generator
#139Check out Thunderf00t's videos cricising solar water collectors, e.g.: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc7WqVMCABg - Zero Mass Water: BUSTED! "Honestly, it drives me crazy how many people have reinvented the dehumidifier, put a solar panel on it, and the media has danced around like theyve just saved the world!" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPvXnmBIO7o - Self-filling water bottle: BUSTED! " The fact that its t…
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Re: Google open sources solar atmospheric water generator
#140Check out Thunderf00t's videos cricising solar water collectors, e.g.: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc7WqVMCABg - Zero Mass Water: BUSTED! "Honestly, it drives me crazy how many people have reinvented the dehumidifier, put a solar panel on it, and the media has danced around like theyve just saved the world!" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPvXnmBIO7o - Self-filling water bottle: BUSTED! " The fact that its t…
I don't have views on the credibility of specific technologies but I've hoped that these could be viable in places like coastal California where fog provides quite a bit of air moisture but it never rains--do you not agree with that?