It’s not just a 10% increase in productivity, it produces fresh water as a byproduct:
Furthermore, the photovoltaic leaf is capable of synergistically utilising the recovered heat to co-generate additional thermal energy and freshwater simultaneously within the same component, significantly elevating the overall solar utilisation efficiency from 13.2% to over 74.5%, along with over 1.1 L/h/m2 of clean water.
Another commenter summarized the nature article linked in comments…
Yes, the salt is left in the pipes, so they are flushed out at night to prevent buildup.
You’re assuming full production for 24 hours a day, I don’t think that’s likely. Maybe 8 hours of full production a day under optimal conditions? Still, ~200 liters a day of potable water seems quite big for a 5x5 area of solar panels.
It’s not just a 10% increase in productivity, it produces fresh water as a byproduct:
where does the salt go? wouldn’t it build up in the pipes and cause them to get clogged?
Another commenter summarized the nature article linked in comments… Yes, the salt is left in the pipes, so they are flushed out at night to prevent buildup.
1.1l/h/m2 ? That means 25m2 generate 27.5l/h so 660l a day. That’s huge.
You’re assuming full production for 24 hours a day, I don’t think that’s likely. Maybe 8 hours of full production a day under optimal conditions? Still, ~200 liters a day of potable water seems quite big for a 5x5 area of solar panels.
Yeah, my bad. Your estimate seems more likely.
Thats pretty cool, although that is not even mentioned in the article unless Im missing something.
The article is extremely light on detail
That bleeping lobster linked the actual paper
https://lemmy.world/comment/2756145