Abstract
The availability of energy and water sources is basic and indispensable for the life of modernistic humans. Because of this importance, the interrelationship between energy derived from renewable energy sources and water desalination technologies has achieved great interest recently. So this paper reviews the photovoltaic (PV) system-powered desalination technologies as stand-alone systems or hybrid systems in the last decade, and this review includes the technologies of reverse osmosis (RO), electrodialysis (ED), reverse electrodialysis (RED), and membrane distillation (MD). This review aims to assess the extent of its development during this decade by evaluating the extent of the reduction in energy consumption and the costs of water production for each technology. Besides, this review reveals the significant developments in the use of photovoltaic system as a source of electric energy for various desalination technologies, especially their use with hybrid sources, such as wind turbines, thermal solar tubulars, and hydrogen fuel cells. These studies and research mainly focused on reverse osmosis technology. Also, most research indicates that PV-RO, PV-ED, and PV-RED systems are friendly to the environment, economical, and suitable for treating contaminated water, especially in remote areas. The review also shows that there is a development in other desalination technologies that can be powered by photovoltaic energy due to their lower energy consumption.