The present research work is interested in modelling and simulating a plant of vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) for seawater desalination coupled with solar energy. Its aim is not only to develop a mathematical model describing the functioning of VMD hollow fibre module coupled with a flat solar collector, but also to determine the daily productivity of this unit. The mathematical model shows that the daily production can reach 38 kg/day. The integration of the solar energy allows the improvement of the desalination plant productivity. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.