The main tank, brimful with ideas. Enjoy them, discuss them, take them. - Of course, this is also the #1 place for new submissions!
By Hal Belknap
#92
Set up solar panels in the desert and use them to power a refrigerator unit: the water that normally forms as condensation on the cooling tubes and fins is collected, passed through filters and stored inside the refrigerated space!

Reward: H2O.
By Yannis Gkaragkanis
#336
It's a fabulous idea that can change the desert politics in a year but: from the point that children die in Somalia where water exists who's gonna give money for that plan?
I can drop another idea for the same subject: Thermal energy. More cheap, less powerful but I can say that Hal made a great solution idea for a problem!!!
I give 60 celcium grade for real!
By zyxRationalist
#337
Wow, this is one hell of an idea. with this idea we can start moving into deserts instead of jungles(by cutting them).

HumanKind has just took a gaint leap, but unfortunately it may be long time before people realize it.
By R. Lloyd Nelson
#338
Hmmm...no limit on the sunshine. Those cooling tubes and fins are inside...desert air can't hold much moisture to be condensed so it will have to be replenished constantly...this might create evaporation losses, necessitating some sort of vacuum airlock. Gee, Hal, I think it could work!
By AaronAgassi
#851
A pile of rocks stacked the right way will actually gather condensation for growing grapes.
By lazyboy
#1261
hey what happens if freon that cools your fridge leaks into your water and kills u
By AaronAgassi
#1275
Freon is gasious at room temperature, and, indeed, detrimental to the Ozone Layer, as everybody knows.

Freon can only be liquid under preasure, and will escape as a gas.

More over, there is now a transition under way to freon free refrigeration.
By killianferrel
#2737
Great minds think alike. I had a similar idea a few years ago partially inspired by George Lucas' Star Wars where Luke Skywalker lived on a farm where they collected water in the desert. Wondering how the machine called a "vaporator" worked, I learned by some fans it worked by condensation with ions.
A solar powered refrigerator unit in the desert seemed to be the closest translation from fiction to fact in the real world, but I could never find out how many solar panels it would take to produce enough energy to power a refrigerator unit large enough to collect enough water to fulfill the needs of a family of four who lived in a desert environment.
One dilemma I did come across was the effect on the environment freon would have if ever one of these water units were to be damaged. One possible solution would be the use of Hydrocarbons. Though flammable, in an appropriate container they could quell concerns about the Ozone Layer being threatened by the use of water units in desert communities.
For more information on alternatives to freon, go to your local internet search engine and look up the appropriate key words. As for the conversion of energy from solar panels to the final collection of water, that may take a person with an engineering degree to see if the idea is cost effective. Solar panels are expensive and if two can only produce a gallon of water ever few days, this idea may need to be refined.
Any ideas?
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