IBM’s new solar cell could provide drinking water as well as power

New Scientist : IBM is working on a hybrid solar panel that not only would generate power but could also make seawater drinkable. The photovoltaic cells in the panels use lenses to focus solar energy onto small sections of photovoltaic material. To keep the cells from overheating, IBM’s prototype uses water-filled microchannels, which, researchers believe, can in turn be used to distill seawater. Because one method of desalination uses hot water to distill seawaterevaporating it to remove the saltit is more energy-efficient to use the water already warmed from cooling the solar cells. In arid areas where power generation is difficult, the new PVCs can solve two problems at once, producing electricity and clean water, said Bruno Michel, head of advanced thermal packaging at IBM’s Zurich Research Laboratory in Switzerland.