Enhancement of solar still productivity using absorber plate with inclined perforated rectangular fins: an experimental study with economic analysis

ABSTRACT This work aimed to enhance the thermal performance of conventional solar stills by using perfo-rated inclined fins that were integrated at the basin plate. To achieve this goal, two solar stills were designed, built and characterized on the basis of Iraqi climatic conditions. The first still was a conventional one, whereas the second was a double-slope solar still with inclined perforated rectangular fins. The designed solar stills had a basin area of 0.75 m 2 and a glass cover inclined at 30° with an orientation in the north–south direction. Results showed that the productivity of distilled water of the single basin conventional solar still was low. Moreover, the productivity of the finned solar still was higher than that obtained from the conventional one. The performance of the finned still was increased by 16%–54% when inclined perforated rectangular fins were used. The average yield in the months of February to August was approximately 3.9–5.7 L/d, and the estimated cost of the distillate output for conventional and finned solar stills was approximately 0.030$/L and 0.028$/L, respectively.