In some areas limited water resources combined with the fast growing population are leading to a crucial situation because of the increase in water demand. Besides, an estimated one billion people are living both without access to clean drinking water or electricity. Therefore, a stand alone photovoltaic-power based hybrid membrane desalination prototype has been designed to meet this challenge. Several parameters were examined in order to optimise the system performance, including i) feed water salt concentration, ii) operating pressure, iii) system recovery, iv) specific energy consumption (SEC) and v) salt retention. With a SEC varying from 2.2 to 7.7 kWh.m(-3), the installation designed for remote villages is able to produce up to 1.2 ml.d(-1).