A hybrid desalination system using humidification-dehumidification and solar stills integrated with evacuated solar water heater

•Evacuated solar water heater integrated with humidification-dehumidification system.•Reuse of warm water drained from humidification-dehumidification to feed solar stills.•The thermal performance of hybrid system is increased by 50% and maximum yield is 63.3 kg/day.•The estimated price of the freshwater produced from the hybrid system is $0.034/L.

This paper offers a hybrid solar desalination system comprising a humidification-dehumidification and four solar stills. The developed hybrid desalination system reuses the drain warm water from humidification-dehumidification to feed solar stills to stop the massive warm water loss during desalination. Reusing the drain warm water increases the gain output ratio of the system by 50% and also increased the efficiency of single solar still to about 90%. Furthermore, the production of a single solar still as a part of the hybrid system was more than that of the conventional one by approximately 200%. The daily water production of the conventional one, single solar still, four solar still, humidification- dehumidification and hybrid system were 3.2, 10.5, 42, 24.3 and 66.3 kg/day, respectively. Furthermore, the cost per unit liter of distillate from conventional one, humidification- dehumidification and hybrid system were around $0.049, $0.058 and $0.034, respectively.