Enhancing Solar Still Performance Utilizing Internal and External Reflectors

The need to leverage solar energy for water desalination has intensified in recent years, fueled by rising costs and the growing scarcity of clean water resources. Solar stills have emerged as a promising technology for water desalination, particularly in regions with abundant sunlight and limited access to clean water sources. The aim of this research is to explore improving solar still performance using internal and external reflectors. By strategically placing reflectors within and around the solar still, the aim is to increase the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the system, leading to higher water production rates and improved overall efficiency. To accomplish this, a traditional basin-type solar still was designed and built. The still features an effective area of 1 m², with a glass cover angled at 30° relative to the horizontal plane. Two types of internal reflectors, aluminum foil and mirrors, were installed to cover internal wall surfaces. Additionally, external reflectors were constructed using 1.1 m x 0.75 m mirrors. Four sets of experiments were conducted: the first using the conventional solar still, the second with the internal walls lined with aluminum foil as a reflector, the third with the internal walls covered in mirrors as a reflector, and the fourth with both internal and external mirrors in place as reflectors. Compared to the conventional solar still, the use of aluminum foil as an internal reflector resulted in a 7.84% increase in condensation output. When mirrors were employed as internal reflectors, the output increased by 19.36%, and with both internal and external mirrors in place, a 59.07% boost was observed.