SolarDune

One infrastructure system. Four coupled flows.

SolarDune is a conceptual infrastructure system for hyper-arid regions that explores whether future data centre infrastructure can simultaneously generate renewable electricity, reuse low-grade heat, produce freshwater from seawater and support ecological restoration.

The reference concept integrates photovoltaic electricity generation, data centre cooling and waste-heat recovery with a large-scale, low-pressure humidification–dehumidification (HDH) desalination cycle. Warm seawater is distributed across enclosed evaporation decks. Moist air is transported through the structure and subsequently cooled at a large condenser, recovering freshwater.

The innovation is primarily in systems integration rather than a new fundamental desalination process.

Reuse flows that infrastructure normally rejects.

SolarDune treats electricity, water, air and heat as a coupled thermodynamic system rather than as separate utilities. Thermal buffering and the desert day–night temperature cycle are intended to support heat rejection and condensation.

The data centre is conceived as the principal economic anchor. Freshwater production is therefore not proposed as a stand-alone competitor to conventional reverse-osmosis desalination. It is an additional output that may become valuable when energy, cooling, heat management and water production are designed together.

Three stacked evaporation decks provide a large seawater surface within the structure. Warm, humid air is directed toward a north-wall condenser, while salt management, demisting, corrosion resistance and maintainability are treated as normal operating requirements rather than secondary details.

Freshwater is not the endpoint.

Recovered freshwater could support staged ecological restoration around the infrastructure. A preliminary strategy begins with nurseries, drip irrigation, pioneer vegetation, soil stabilisation and windbreaks. If local conditions permit, progressively more complex vegetation and productive land uses could follow.

This ecological pathway remains site-specific. Water demand, species selection, soil conditions, salinity, evapotranspiration and establishment losses would need to be evaluated for each location.

Explore the concept in 3D.

An interactive 3D CAD model of the preliminary SolarDune reference geometry is available in Onshape. It provides a more direct view of the overall wedge geometry and current spatial configuration than the illustrative renders used on this website.

The model represents the current conceptual reference configuration and should not be interpreted as a construction-ready engineering design. Dimensions, internal layouts and subsystem interfaces may change as the concept is developed and validated.

Read the full concept paper.