Productivity and sustainability enhancement in solar still using wick and copper cooling coil

Abstract This study presents a modified passive single‐slope solar still (MPSS) with a hanging wick and copper cooling coil to enhance productivity for sustainable groundwater desalination. In this study, the performance of MPSS is compared in terms of energy, exergy, economic, exergoeconomic, and environmental perspectives at the same climate conditions. Results show that annual freshwater production in MPSS increased by 41% compared to SPSS by enhancing free wet surface area to evaporate water. The highest energy and exergy efficiencies of MPSS are 23.84% and 2.98%, respectively. The cost per liter (CPL) of productive fresh water was significantly lower for MPSS (US$0.0139) than SPSS (US$0.0198) and MPSS achieved a higher exergoeconomic parameter of 0.77 kWh/US$ as compared to SPSS. MPSS using wick demonstrated the highest net CO 2 mitigation of 19.03 tonnes with corresponding carbon credits worth US$ 609.08. MPSS using wick demonstrated superior performance in terms of energy and exergy perspectives than SPSS. The novelty of this work lies in the integration of a hanging wet wick and copper cooling coil with a passive arrangement, significantly enhancing evaporation, yield, energy efficiency, and cost‐effectiveness—offering a promising solution for decentralized groundwater purification in water‐scarce regions.