Long-term comparative study of solar-distiller systems

We show how the thermal losses within and outside a solar distillation unit vary with water depth in the basin of a passive solar still. The latent heat of vaporisation has been used for distillation under both passive and active modes of operation. The flow rate of the water mass over the glass cover has been optimised for different depths of water in the basin. The monthly performance of different distiller units is compared in terms of yield and overall thermal efficiency.