Source Global which makes water using hydropanels out of thin air, receives backing from Bill Gates and Blackrock

Hydropanels from Source Global produce water out of thin air and transport it to where it is most needed. Cody Friesen, the company's CEO, devised the panels in 2014 at Arizona State University's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

He developed the science into Source Global a year later. The panels for the start-up cost around $2,000 each.

Friesen said, “We take sunlight and air and we can produce perfect drinking water essentially anywhere on the planet.”...“And so we take water that has historically been probably humanity’s greatest challenge and turn it into a renewable resource that is perfect essentially everywhere.”

The hydropanels at Source collect water vapor from the air and compress it into a form 10,000 times more concentrated than the atmosphere. The technology transforms the molecules into liquid water using the sun's heat, which is collected in a reservoir inside the panel and then discharged as clean water.

Friesen had constructed 40 hydropanels in Kenya by 2018, where members of the Samburu Girls Foundation faced daily risks in their quest for water. They now have access to their own water supply.

According to Friesen, “We can now make perfect water, at your home, at your school, in your community in a way that is really bringing it into the 21st century,”

Hydropanels from Source are used in 450 different projects in 52 countries. Breakthrough Energy Ventures, BlackRock, Duke Energy, and the Lightsmith Group were among the investors who contributed $150 million to the company.

In locations like India, where an estimated 800,000 communities lack clean drinking water, this type of technology is badly required. According to the World Health Organization, which was referenced by Friesen, “half of the world's population will be in water-stressed areas" by 2025.

There's also a domestic requirement. According to Friesen, there are 1.5 million miles of lead pipes still in the ground in the United States, and roughly 750 water main breaks occur every day.

He revealed that the business opportunity is enormous.