Theoretical study on the performance of a solar still system integrated with PCM-PV module for sustainable water and power generation

Current paper studies a new solar still system integrated with semitransparent photovoltaic, evacuated tube collectors and phase change materials. Mathematical modeling has been accomplished based on energy/exergy balance equations to investigate the effects of various PCM-PV modules, basin water depth and tube numbers on the system thermal and electrical performance. The system is examined in terms of distilled water production, electricity generation, and energy/exergy efficiencies. Variations of distilled water, system temperature, generated electricity power and energy/exergy outputs and efficiencies over time are presented for various effective parameters. Considering obtained results, while PV type does not affect distilled water, it is the dominant parameter on generated electrical power. Tube number as another important parameter, improves the distilled water production, however, it influences the energy/exergy efficiencies in an inverse way. Presence of PCM, improves the energy efficiency, but has negligible effect on the exergy efficiency. The highest amount of distilled water during a day is calculated for the water basin depth of 0.03 m and 30 tube number with paraffin wax PCM type (4.5503 kg/m2·day) which is 20.32% more than the case without PCM. Moreover, maximum diurnal energy/exergy efficiencies are reported 17.93% and 6.95% for water depth of 0.03 m and 10 tubes with PCM.