Development and Modifications in Solar Still: A Review

Abstract

Water is an indispensable part of life on the earth. Appropriate quality of potable water is essential for all living beings and for agriculture and industrial applications. Population of the world is increasing and due to physical scarcity of potable water there is a huge gap among demand and supply of water, it is essential to minimize this gap by implementing alternative technologies of water purification. It can reduce water scarcity problems as well as enhanced water purification technologies by using natural and renewable resources at much efficient cost with longer durability. Solar distillation is analogous to natural hydrological cycle. It uses an apparatus called a solar still in which water is evaporated by using heat which is readily available in the form of solar energy and collected as a distillate after condensation of the vapor. Solar desalination can be proven as the most effective method for the same technique which converts saline water (or brackish) into potable water. Since solar energy is a sustainable source of energy, it can be used for this conversion phenomenon. Solar still can be used as a device/apparatus for solar desalination. This article is aimed to study different types of modification and development that are observed in solar still.