SolMem

What SolMem does

SolMem LLC is a Houston, Texas-based water technology startup founded in 2017 as a spinout from an engineering lab at Rice University. The company has developed a proprietary solar-driven desalination platform called Solar Multi-Effect Membrane Distillation (SolarMEMD), which uses a nanotechnology-enabled photothermal membrane to convert sunlight directly to heat on the membrane surface and desalinate saline water streams including oil & gas produced water, agricultural wastewater, brackish water, RO concentrate, and seawater. SolMem claims greater than 75% single-stage energy efficiency from incident sunlight, water recovery of 85–90% for brackish water and up to 75% for seawater, and tolerance of industrial wastewater with total dissolved solids up to 200,000 ppm. A complementary conceptual offering, Solar NZLD, combines the SolarMEMD process with reverse osmosis to target near-zero liquid discharge applications.

SolMem monetizes through the sale and deployment of its modular SolarMEMD systems via direct enterprise sales to municipalities, oil & gas operators, agricultural operations, and existing RO desalination plants. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. To date the company has been funded primarily through non-dilutive federal grants — USDA SBIR Phase I and Phase II awards, an NSF SBIR Phase I grant of $256,000, and a $50,000 DOE American-Made Solar Desalination Prize quarterfinalist cash award — together with competition-based recognition. Revenue is not publicly disclosed, headcount is fewer than 10, and the company has no named paying commercial customers.

The most significant recent commercial milestone is an 8–10 week pilot launched in May 2024 at the National Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility in Alamogordo, NM, intended to generate independent field performance data needed to substantiate commercial claims. The company is led by Dr. Gordon Zhang (CEO, former CEO of CNPC USA), Prof. Qilin Li (Founder, Rice University), Dr. Charles Liu (Co-founder, 30+ years membrane process experience), and Roxy Z Evans (Co-founder, Business Director).

Name

SolMem

Legal name

SolMem LLC

Website

https://solmem.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SolMem LLC is a Houston-based water technology startup that develops SolarMEMD, a solar-powered membrane distillation system that desalinate and purifies brackish water, seawater, produced water, and industrial wastewater for off-grid communities, oil and gas operators, agriculture, and municipal desalination plants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Water Desalination Systems

NAICS

Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (221310), Power, Distribution, and Specialty Transformer Manufacturing (335311)

SIC

Pumps & Pumping Equipment (3561), Industrial & Commercial Fans & Blowers & Air Purifing Equip (3564)

akta.pro primary industry

Hybrid Desalination Systems (RO + Thermal/Other) (EUANAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Solar PV Module Manufacturing (Cells, Modules, Thin-Film) (EUAMABAD), Solar Inverters, Power Electronics & MLPE (String/Central Inverters, Optimizers, Microinverters) (EUAMABAE)

Keywords

• Solar desalination
• Membrane distillation
• Water purification systems
• Brine management
• Zero liquid discharge

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. SolarMEMD Desalination Systems: SolMem generates revenue through the sale of its SolarMEMD (Solar Multi-Effect Membrane Distillation) systems for treating saline water sources including brackish water, seawater, produced water, and industrial wastewater. The company targets municipalities, industries, and agricultural operations in off-grid or water-scarce regions globally. Revenue is derived from system sales, deployment, and potentially ongoing service and maintenance contracts.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SolMem designs and sells SolarMEMD (Solar Multi-Effect Membrane Distillation) systems, which are solar-powered desalination units using a nanotechnology-enabled photothermal membrane to desalinate and purify saline water sources including seawater, brackish water, oil & gas produced water, agricultural wastewater, and reverse osmosis concentrate. The company also offers a hybrid Solar NZLD (Near-Zero Liquid Discharge) concept combining membrane distillation with reverse osmosis for near-complete liquid reuse.

Product overview

SolMem offers solar-driven water treatment solutions centered on two core technologies: SolarMEMD (Solar Multi-Effect Membrane Distillation) and Solar NZLD (Near-Zero Liquid Discharge). SolarMEMD is a novel desalination technology that directly utilizes sunlight to desalinate saline waste streams through a nanotechnology-enabled photothermal membrane. Solar NZLD is a hybrid system combining MD with reverse osmosis to achieve near-zero liquid discharge. Both products target water-scarce regions and off-grid communities, providing low-cost, energy-efficient water treatment without reliance on conventional power grids.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SolarMEMD (Solar Multi-Effect Membrane Distillation) A solar-driven desalination system that uses a nanotechnology-enabled photothermal membrane to directly convert sunlight into heat at the membrane surface, evaporating saline water and producing pure water through condensation. Targets municipalities, oil & gas operators, agricultural operations, and industrial wastewater producers.
• Solar NZLD (Near-Zero Liquid Discharge) A conceptual hybrid system combining solar-thermal-driven multi-effect membrane distillation (MD) with electricity-powered reverse osmosis (RO) to desalinate wastewater streams and produce drinking-quality water with near-zero liquid discharge.

Quantifiable outcome

• 85–90% water recovery for brackish water desalination
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• National Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility (Alamogordo, NM)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 May 2024SolMem launched a pilot test at the National Brackish Test Center in Alamogordo, NM in May 2024. The 8–10 week pilot test evaluates the efficacy of SolarMEMD technology for brackish water desalination. This facility partnership is critical for generating performance data and validating commercial potential in real-world conditions.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• SolarSpring: SolarSpring is a German developer of solar-driven membrane distillation systems for decentralized water treatment. Its technology overlap with SolMem's SolarMEMD is direct — both pursue solar-thermal MD for off-grid and industrial applications.
• Source Global: Source Global (formerly Zero Mass Water) produces drinking water from sunlight and air using solar-thermal hydropanels. It is the closest comparable to SolMem in combining renewable solar energy with distributed water production for off-grid and water-scarce customers.
• Desolenator: Desolenator develops solar-thermal desalination units for off-grid, brackish, and seawater applications. Like SolMem, it targets water-scarce communities and industrial users with renewable-energy-driven membrane or thermal distillation systems.
• Memsys: Memsys develops vacuum multi-effect membrane distillation (V-MEMD) systems for industrial water and resource recovery. It is the most direct technological analogue to SolMem's multi-effect membrane distillation approach applied to high-salinity industrial streams.

Broad incumbents

• Gradiant: Gradiant is a Boston-based industrial water treatment company with proprietary technologies including carrier gas extraction and selective salt removal. It serves oil & gas, mining, and manufacturing — overlapping with SolMem's high-salinity industrial verticals but at much larger scale.
• IDE Technologies: IDE Technologies is a global leader in thermal and RO desalination, delivering large-scale plants for municipal and industrial customers. It represents the established incumbent against which SolMem must compete for municipal and oil & gas contracts.
• Energy Recovery: Energy Recovery Inc. is a publicly traded supplier of energy-recovery devices for seawater reverse osmosis. It is a broad incumbent in desalination economics, and efficiency improvements it delivers to incumbent RO narrow the cost gap SolMem must beat.

Emerging players

• OriginClear: OriginClear provides industrial water treatment systems and decentralized reuse technology, targeting oil & gas, agriculture, and food/beverage — verticals overlapping with SolMem's primary customer base, at a comparable scale and stage.
• Trevi Systems: Trevi Systems commercializes forward osmosis desalination for industrial brine management and zero liquid discharge. It targets the same high-TDS, high-recovery niche as SolMem, with an alternative non-thermal membrane approach.
• Aqua Membranes: Aqua Membranes develops printed spacers and novel RO membrane element designs for improved fouling resistance and energy efficiency. It is an adjacent emerging player in next-generation desalination membranes, addressing the same fouling/recovery pain points SolMem targets via membrane distillation.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/solmemusa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SolMem