Epiphany Solar Water Systems

The concept behind Epiphany Solar Water Systems (SWS) began in 2005 when Tom Joseph and Henry Wandrie first conceived of a simple and inexpensive method of distilling water with concentrated solar energy.  After receiving seed funding from Innovation Works (a PA Ben Franklin Technology Partner) in 2009, a team of diverse and highly skilled individuals was secured to undergo the project.  Among them are experts in solar energy, design, manufacturing, marketing, and business management.

During its early years, Epiphany completed fabrication of various successful beta units with extensive field testing.  During early 2014, pilot production of final product began and initial customer deliveries commenced.

Epiphany is currently seeking additional funding to ramp to full scale production and market launch in late 2014 and into early 2015.  This will allow Epiphany to reach operational profitability within 24 months.  Key use of funds include: manufacture and deployment of water purification units, establishment of distributor agreements, and all necessary marketing and PR required to achieve maximum market penetration.

Epiphany's patent pending solar concentration technology allows for mass production of high quality, dual-axis tracking concentrators without the need for specialized equipment or exotic materials.  Made of stamped steel parabolic dishes with field-replaceable reflective inserts, our dishes offer best in class performance for a fraction of the cost of prior solutions. 

Below is just a partial list of our solar concentrators' unique features:

• Inexpensive (up to 90% less than glass equivalent)
• Highly Reflective (90%+)
• Lightweight - less than 150 Lb (70 kg) per dish
• Easily set up - no training required
• Field replaceable reflective inserts
• Wind resistant - hurricane rated to >85 mph (>140 km/hr)

In addition to being the core component of our solar distillation process, Epiphany also offers complete solar concentrators and receivers for sale to others who want to power their processes with solar thermal technology. 

Epiphany's proprietary MVR Crystallizer uses a recirculating evaporator/crystallizer to achieve an efficient zero liquid discharge (ZLD) solution that is extremely compact in size.  The use of mechanical vapor re-compression reduces energy use, while the re-circulation system drastically reduces fouling/scaling on the heat exchange surfaces.

By operating the crystallizer in a fully saturated state, it is equally capable of distilling input water with Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) ranging from zero to 350,000 ppm.  Distilled water output is typically less than 150 ppm, and the solids are discharged as a slurry with a moisture content of only 25-30%.