Introduction Freshwater is essential for people around the world. However, with the scarcity of freshwater that we are currently encountering, desalination processes need to be improved to efficiently generate clean and safe water. A major issue with desalination systems is that they are very energy-intensive and release harmful emissions into the environment when using fossil fuels. Switching to using renewable sources such as solar energy for desalination systems gives a more environmentally friendly approach to desalination and helps to combat water scarcity. Advancements in solar energy desalination processes, including electrodialysis and reverse osmosis, will be looked at in this paper. Solar energy has a large potential as a renewable desalination energy source because of its abundance on Earth. Furthermore, advances in solar-wind hybrid desalination systems will be looked at, that demonstrate high efficiency and low carbon emissions as well.