In a remote coastal zone near Almería, Spain has launched the first full-scale solar desalination dome — a transparent structure that distills seawater into clean drinking water 24 hours a day, using only the heat of the sun and thermal storage.
The dome, developed by the SolarDew Consortium and CSIC, uses curved glass panels that focus sunlight into a central thermal salt bath. This bath stores enough energy during the day to keep water boiling and condensing through the night. Water vapor condenses on inner dome surfaces and is collected in a perimeter trench.
Unlike membrane or reverse osmosis systems, the dome uses no pumps, no filters, and no chemicals. It requires no external grid power and produces up to 6,000 liters of water per day with zero brine discharge — only dry salt that’s collected and sold.
In drought-prone southern Europe, this innovation offers an off-grid, scalable way to deliver drinking water to rural communities and refugee zones. Several domes are already under construction along Mediterranean coastlines.
By mimicking the water cycle inside a sealed solar shell, Spain has turned the sun and sea into a water tap.