A thermo-enviro-economic case study of energy conversion and storage in a concrete basin twin wedge solar still for resilient and sustainable desalination

• TWSS (C+Al) achieved highest yield: 5.18 L/m²/day and 52.45% efficiency. • Concrete basin thermal storage boosts evaporation and reduces heat loss. • Aluminum liner enhances heat conduction, improving evaporation rates significantly. • TWSS (C+Al) reduced CO 2 emissions by 24.44 tons, earning $1,469.83 carbon credits. • Larger glass cover expands condensation area, increasing freshwater production. Energy and water are strongly connected and crucial resources, whose increasing shortage has become one of the main challenges in modern times. Water abstraction and treatment processes require high energy costs for pumping, cleaning and distribution. Simultaneously, most conventional membrane-based water treatment processes require enormous amounts of electricity, which is predominantly produced via steam-based thermal plants that again require huge amounts of clean water. This forms a circular dependency that stresses the demand for such sustainable desalination technologies as solar stills. This study investigates the effect and feasibility of integrating thermal energy storage in the design of a solar still sustainable desalination solution. Further, this study also evaluates the thermal, economic and enviroeconomic performance of these solar stills. Four independent solar still configurations were investigated: a conventional single basin single slope solar still (CSS), a conventional twin wedge solar still (TWSS), a TWSS with a concrete basin (TWSS (C) ), and an aluminium-lined TWSS concrete basin (TWSS (C+Al) ). Performance evaluation showed a maximum TWSS (C+Al) production of 5.18 litres/m 2 /day, a thermal efficiency of 52.45%, and a freshwater cost of $0.016 per litre. Heat loss assessment showed that the concrete insulation greatly reduces heat loss, and the thermal capacity of the concrete basin promotes higher evaporation rates. The advantages of TWSS (C+Al) over other models include the excellent thermal conductivity of the aluminium basin liner, the thermal storage properties of the concrete and the expanded condensation surface provided by the new design glass cover. Furthermore, the system reduces CO 2 emissions by 24.24 tons per year, generating $1,469.83 in carbon credits over its lifetime. The present study shows how the developed TWSS (C+Al) can effectively contribute to sustainable desalination by enhancing thermal performance, thus offering clear environmental and economic benefits.