An overview of renewable energy technologies with a view to stand alone power generation and water provision

A brief overview is provided of renewable energy technologies suited to stand alone power generation; in practice this means wind turbines and photovoltaics (PV) as these can be used in diverse locations, and to a lesser extent micro-hydro which is more site specific and bio-energy although this last one may not be effective at the smaller scales mostly involved. The issues concerning the use of wind power and PV for desalination by reverse osmosis will be discussed.