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This review deals with the membrane desalination techniques, reverse and forward osmosis, run by solar energy. Photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors are favorable substitutes for fossil fuels, which are being plundered and cause climate changes. The present paper provides its readers with a novel classification of previous works on membrane methods and the kinds of collectors, which shed light on the significant role of solar energy and systems as green renewable energy in producing drinking water for human beings. The photovoltaic-integrated reverse osmosis systems are advocated by 53% percent of all articles. In addition, energy, exergy, and techno-economic analyses have been done under various conditions. The optimized and modified designs of reverse osmosis, powered by solar thermal collectors, make the systems greatly expanded the entire world. From another side, the capability of forward osmosis (FO) to provide potable water provokes researchers to investigate the ambiguities about the influence of solar collectors on the system performance and water production cost. Nevertheless, the efforts continue to retrofit FO, the number of papers is not sufficient, and the wide field of the subjects about solar forward osmosis has not been covered yet. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.