Abstract The use of solar-powered reverse osmosis desalination systems is a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution in the desalination industry. However, there are some substantial technical and economic challenges due to the intermittency and fluctuation of solar energy. Recent technological improvement and feed-in tariff policies enable these systems to be competitive with conventional grid-connected reverse osmosis systems. In this paper, a feasibility study of the integration of solar panels with the grid to power small-scale reverse osmosis systems (namely up to 2000 m3/day) is conducted in Iran, as a country with a low price of electricity. For this purpose, a city located on the northern coast of the Persian Gulf, which deals with water shortage but has high solar radiation, is selected as a case study. Five different scenarios are considered, and the impacts of the use of energy recovery devices, energy storage systems and membrane characteristics have been studied. Finally, a detailed cash flow analysis is provided for each scenario. In the end, we show the economic viability of solar-powered reverse osmosis plants when their unused or surplus solar electricity is exported to the grid.

中文翻译：

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太阳能反渗透工艺的可行性研究

摘要 太阳能反渗透海水淡化系统的使用是海水淡化行业可持续和环保的解决方案。然而，由于太阳能的间歇性和波动性，存在一些重大的技术和经济挑战。最近的技术改进和上网电价政策使这些系统能够与传统的并网反渗透系统竞争。在本文中，伊朗作为一个低电价国家，进行了太阳能电池板与电网集成为小型反渗透系统（即高达 2000 立方米/天）供电的可行性研究。为此，选择位于波斯湾北部海岸的一座城市作为案例研究，该城市处理水资源短缺但太阳辐射高。考虑了五种不同的情况，并研究了使用能量回收装置、能量存储系统和膜特性的影响。最后，为每个场景提供了详细的现金流分析。最后，我们展示了当太阳能反渗透装置未使用或多余的太阳能电力输出到电网时的经济可行性。