A project to use solar and wind power to run a small reverse-osmosis (RO) desalination system in Jamaica has received US$ 40,000 in funding from Global Environment Facility, with an additional US$10,000 in cofunding to come from the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica.
The project, to be undertaken by the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI), will involve the use of simple low-speed wind generators, powered by halved 45-gallon drums that have been cut to create angled flaps, to run turbines, which will produce up to 2 kW of energy. The power generated will be used to run an RO system that will convert seawater and rainwater to fresh water.
Renewable energy consultant at the CMI, Charles Bromfield, told Jamaica Information Service, “I have developed what they call a hybrid system, so it’s going to use wind and solar. Wind will back up solar, solar will back up wind, because sometimes you have wind, sometimes you don’t,” he explained.