Water is Everything! We shouldn’t take it for granted.
My blog and YouTube channel have never been about getting views or showing off. It’s been about what solar should be doing. Many of my projects are about directing attention towards capability gaps that really should not exist.
One good example is the distinct lack of high quality (not “truck stop” quality) 12/24/48V DC home and kitchen appliances for the past several years. As of 2026 that’s starting to change, but not fast enough. Long ago, I started building various low voltage DC appliances in my shop when I could not find suitable options on the market.
A DC countertop water distiller is a great example of a capability gap that should not exist. A simple DC water distiller solves a very common problem – lack of access to clean drinking water. Millions of people would find it useful. Small water distillers are not difficult or expensive to manufacture. And yet, I couldn’t find one on the market. So I built one.
In some parts of the world, finding drinking water is one of the cruelest struggles for survival. Dehydration and thirst are powerful motivators. Many are forced to drink from contaminated sources like puddles or polluted rivers and streams. And depending on the municipal water supply means you don’t control (and probably don’t have knowledge of) the quality of your drinking water on a day-to-day basis.
Although it’s often overlooked, clean drinking water is a top tier critical resource for every family. As someone who is chronically dehydrated for over 22 years (due to migraines and vomiting) I know what’s it’s like to suffer the pains and afflictions of dehydration. Going without food? That’s certainly tough. You can make it several weeks. But try 2-3 days without water… you’ll be in another place entirely…
Solar Can Make Pure Clean Drinking Water
One of my interests in solar has always been water purification. There are so many ways to do it. Primarily, I am interested in solar electric water distillation because A) there are already low cost portable electric distillers widely available for sale and B) using electrical power opens the door to doing so many other things besides distilling water.
Most electric water distillation appliances today are AC (alternating current) powered. If you’ve been following my work so far, you’ll know I am a big fan of eliminating the inverter and using DC (direct current) power. Eliminating the DC-AC power inverter has many different benefits including increased efficiency, reduced cost and less complexity.
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Going a step farther, I build systems that can optionally eliminate the battery and charge controller. Operating appliances directly from PV DC solar panels has to be one of the simplest and purest forms of using solar-electric power today.
Motivation – A New Project Starts
Our household consumes a lot of bottled distilled drinking water from the store. It’s expensive. And I kept thinking about people who can’t afford to buy water year after year. Countertop water distillers are everywhere. They are affordable, easy to use, simple, and they just work. But if you don’t have AC / grid power (inverter or otherwise) you can’t use it.
And that gradually lead to several projects centered around drinking water purification. Specifically, I have been using countertop water distillers for some time now. But they are all AC powered. Why shouldn’t DC powered versions exist? And why not go a step farther, and build solar electric water distillers with PV2L (PV-to-Load) capability? Imagine having a water distiller in the field that only needs a couple of solar panels to make gallon after gallon of pure water. That would be incredible. So it’s time to make it happen.
I bought a brand new countertop water distiller for the project. My aim was to convert it entirely to 48 Volts DC, with both battery power and PV2L 48-55V modes of operation (no battery, just solar panels). I am also working on a 12-volt and 24-volt version of my water distiller.
Water Distillation – A Simple Process
These appliances operate on a fairly simple principle. They heat the water up in a reservoir by adding heat energy (endothermic) and the water boils, releasing water vapor in the form of steam and leaving most contaminants behind. That steam is then piped through a condensing coil (kind of like a radiator) where a fan constantly blows cool air across to extract the heat (exothermic). This causes the steam to condense back into pure clean drinking water and is collected in a container for use.
So it almost sounds like cooking. Just heat something up. But water distillation does take a bit of know-how to get it right and maximize efficiency. For example, the water distiller should not produce steam at the outlet – which is nothing but wasted energy. Only clean distilled water should come out. Balancing heat input vs. heat output can be potentially tricky at times. Most countertop water distillers are already balanced and work very well right out of the box. Another tip is to never boil the distiller reservoir dry. Leave some water in the reservoir at the end of the cycle, to hold the leftover minerals and contaminants in solution. Then it’s much easier to keep it clean; pour that heavy contaminated water out, rinse, and re-fill with more water to start a new cycle.
Modifying a Countertop Water Distiller for DC Power
I started by disassembling the water distiller and disconnecting / removing all the wires inside. Unfortunately, many of the AC components I found inside were not suitable for use with DC (even lower DC voltages like 48V). For example, the boil-dry protection circuit is 100% likely to “weld closed” after a few cycles, causing an extreme fire hazard. And adding a DC arc snubber circuit incurs risk, because they’re built with electronic components which can fail.
Oddly, there was a switch-mode power supply (SMPS) in the bottom of the distiller which I found amusing. I guess it has its benefits and advantages, but the kind of engineering I like tends to be “simpler is better“. I did not re-use the SMPS supply, instead relying on electromechanical controls.
The heating elements in many of these distillers are usually very old and common technology – something like a steel tube packed with magnesium oxide and nichrome resistance wire.
Modifying this type of heating element directly is an absolute chore! It’s also very unsafe if done the wrong way! I plan to re-use the existing heating element somehow but can also lean on my own heating element designs. Even so, it doesn’t really matter what kind of heating element is used, as long as it is safe and handles around 48-55 volts DC at about 700 watts. My goal is to get close to the rated OEM power level of 750w.
A Closer Look At The Internals
I love the internals of these machines. Fascinating to look at. In my opinion, this machine is pretty well built. Less than $100 at the time of writing. It’s a good design. Nothing wrong with it. Amazing what a factory can produce for low cost these days. I fully understand that $100 is still a pretty big investment, but the point is these machines can pay for themselves and could be made even cheaper. There is no doubt about it. And creating a DC powered variant would not affect the cost much at all.
To use DC, we don’t need to change anything but the heating element, control system (which prevent fire risks if the unit boils dry) and fan. Everything else can stay the same. It’s a simple device.
Replacing The Fan Assembly
Unfortunately, the condenser fan motor is an extremely common AC shaded pole motor. Impossible to use it with DC. What a shame. I really liked the aluminum fan blade. If only I could have found a 48V DC motor that was compatible. That is certainly an option with the right motor.
Rather than try to re-use parts of the fan, I just replaced it. I removed the motor and fan blade assembly and installed a high quality Delta industrial 48V brushless fan. The price was very affordable. According to its spec sheet, acceptable voltage range is in excess of 55Vdc – perfect for both my 48V battery power and direct solar (PV2L) application scenarios.
Mounting the Delta fan in the top half of the distiller cleanly was tedious. I finally drilled holes and installed bolts in the top of the fan cover to hold the new fan. Hate doing that – I like my converted appliances to look like they “came from a factory”. That’s actually the whole point – help people realize that there is NO reason why factories can’t make DC appliances. This fan turned out to be pretty powerful compared to the OEM fan, so it may increase overall efficiency.
I wasn’t sure this thing would work. I did a quick and nervous test on the reservoir. Was pretty sure something would go wrong… let’s just say I struggle with that on many builds. But thankfully, nothing bad happened. The water boiled for the first time on 48 volts. Wonderful!
Last step was to carefully re-wire the entire bottom of the unit with wires to connect the input plug, both heating elements, fan power port, indicator light and any controls using high temp rated wire, connectors and high temp tape where necessary. I use the term careful because I don’t want anything to burn or melt after closing this thing up and putting it into long term service…
For the power plug, I use my familiar old NEMA 6-15P standard. I had to be very careful to get Positive (+) and Negative (-) wired correctly, else the fan would have been burned out.
For those of you who don’t know, my house is in part wired for 48V DC off grid residential electrical service. There are NEMA 6-15R receptacles all over the house, but instead of 250Vac, they output 48Vdc. They are labeled to prevent confusion since, after all, NEMA 6-15R outlets are universally rated for AC power only.
But on the other end, I kept the IEC plug. The reason is, it’s already there, it looks good, and it works fine. We’re only pushing about 12 amps through it.
Does It Work?
After final checks, it was time for a full water distillation cycle test. I used my other unmodified countertop distiller which is AC powered as a control and comparison. I put this 48V machine on the countertop. Filled it up with tap water. Put the top on, plugged in the fan to the side and plugged the DC cord into the NEMA 6-15R 48V receptacles on our kitchen wall.
The fan fired up and the unit started consuming around 600 watts at first.
If I remember correctly, it took roughly 20 minutes before the water inside was clearly boiling (going by the sound). Some time after that, clean drinking water began dripping into the collection container. Pure. Distilled. DC powered. That’s what I’m talking about… it just worked. Perfectly. No inverter needed. I was stoked!
If someone like me can build this appliance, there is NO reason factories cannot mass-produce simple 12/24/48v DC powered water distillers for the whole world. They should be affordable, easy to use and easy to get.
As part of ongoing tests, I will attempt to power the distiller without a battery, using only PV DC solar panels. I intend to update later with photos and documentation of that work.
Work on this project is in progress and additional updates may follow. More detailed information will be posted on my new SPE Research Members Site (Ko-Fi platform).
Every person should be able to produce and control their own pure clean drinking water anywhere in the world. Simple solar electric systems can make it happen. That’s my vision.
I hope you enjoyed this article, thanks for reading and stay tuned! – Dave, SPE
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