Utilization of solar water heater in a single basin solar still—An experimental study

Solar distillation is a promising method for the supply of fresh water to rural communities. Worldwide passive solar still is used for solar distillation plants due to its simplicity in construction, operation and low cost; however the yield is low. Various active methods have been developed to overcome this issue. However, these developments create additional costs for the system. The main objective of this research was to effectively utilise the solar water heater for solar still productivity enhancement and it is working as a hybrid system. The evacuated tube collector model solar water heater was coupled with a still, and a performance study was conducted at various days at different timing. The results revealed that the productivity of the still was doubled when it was coupled with a 24-hour period. The solar collector coupled with the still after the storage tank water temperature reached 60 °C increases the yield by 77% compared to the passive solar still. Theoretical analysis is well agreed with the experimental results. The water quality results revealed that, all the samples were well agreed with standard values after distillation.

► A new cost effective solar still productivity enhancement technique was proposed.
► Experimental results in various timings of solar water heater (SWH) coupled active solar still are presented.
► The results revealed that the productivity of the still was doubled when it was coupled with a 24-hour period.
► The SWH coupled with the still after the storage tank water temperature reached 60 °C increases the yield by 77%.
► The proposed system will be more useful for rural applications, where the quality water is not suitable for drinking.