SOLAR WATER PLC

Their core work

Solar Water PLC is a London-based technology SME working at the intersection of solar energy and freshwater production. Their core technology applies Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) to seawater desalination, aiming to make freshwater generation both renewable and scalable in water-scarce regions. Beyond their own technology development, they have since joined a major EU innovation consortium (REWAISE) focused on smart water economy principles — bringing their applied technology perspective to questions of water governance, climate resilience, and energy recovery in urban water systems. They are a small, commercially-oriented company that bridges clean energy and water infrastructure.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Solar Water PLC entered H2020 in 2019 with a tightly scoped technology proposition: using Concentrating Solar Power to desalinate seawater, a specific hardware-oriented solution to water scarcity. Their first project (SWCSP) carried no broader keywords, consistent with a focused SME Phase 1 feasibility exploring a single technology. By 2020 they had joined REWAISE — a large, long-running Innovation Action where the language shifts entirely to systems thinking: smart economy, governance, resilience, energy recovery. This suggests the company is broadening from technology developer to ecosystem participant, embedding their desalination expertise within a wider water management and sustainability agenda.

Solar Water PLC is moving from a single-technology CSP desalination specialist toward a broader role in smart water systems — making them an increasingly relevant partner for climate resilience, water governance, and integrated urban water projects.

How they like to work

Solar Water PLC has led one small feasibility project independently and joined one large multi-partner consortium as a participant — a classic SME pattern of testing their own concept first, then plugging into a bigger ecosystem. Their participation in REWAISE, with 31 partners across 11 countries, shows they are capable of operating inside complex European consortia. For future partners, expect them to come in as a specialist technology contributor rather than a project manager, bringing applied water/solar expertise to consortia that need a private-sector innovator in the mix.

Despite only two projects, Solar Water PLC has connected with 31 unique partners across 11 countries — almost entirely through the large REWAISE consortium. Their network is European in breadth but thin in depth given the small project count.

What sets them apart

Solar Water PLC occupies a narrow but commercially relevant niche: applying solar thermal energy (CSP) specifically to desalination, a combination very few SMEs pursue in EU-funded research. This positions them as a credible bridge between the renewable energy and water sectors — useful for consortia that need a technology provider who understands both. Their private-company status and SME scale make them a pragmatic partner for applied innovation projects that need industry participants with real deployment intent, not just academic research interest.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SWCSP
  This was Solar Water PLC's own coordinated EU project, demonstrating their proprietary CSP desalination concept and their ability to lead an SME Phase 1 feasibility independently.
• REWAISE
  A large Innovation Action running through 2026 with 31 consortium partners, this project represents a significant step up in scale and signals Solar Water PLC's integration into European water resilience networks.