PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A SOLAR STILL COUPLED TO AN EVACUATED TUBE COLLECTOR TYPE SOLAR WATER HEATER

Solar distillation is a promising method for the supply of freshwater to rural communities. Worldwide passive solar still is used for solar distillation plants due to its simplicity in construction and operation, low cost and however the yield is low. Various active methods have been developed to overcome this issue. These developments create additional costs for the system. The main objective of this project is to effectively utilize the solar water heater for solar still productivity enhancement, which works as a hybrid system. The evacuated tube collector model solar water heater was coupled to a solar still, and the performance study was conducted at various timings with different operating conditions like Solar still operated alone and Hybrid Still operated during daytime with various water depths and various water samples. Both Theoretical and Experimental analysis were conducted and the results were compared. The water quality results for different water samples for both untreated and treated water were tabulated.