Different domestic designs of solar stills: A review

Access to safe, fresh and clean drinking water is one of the major problems in different parts of the world. Among many water purification technologies solar desalination/distillation/purification is one of the most sustainable and attractive method employed to meet the supply of clean drinkable water in remote areas at a very reasonable cost. Over the past three decades, there have been numerous designs of solar still system developed worldwide. However the technology is not commercialized and standardized because of its lower yield. This article provides a comprehensive review of the various designs of solar stills used at domestic level. Performance parameters like heat transfer analysis, energy analysis, exergy analysis, thermal efficiency and economic analysis have been presented for the domestic designs of solar stills. Though solar still have not been successfully commercialized as yet, with the ongoing research efforts, they can be modified and improved for future domestic applications.