Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 68 (2017) 638–649

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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

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A review of solar still performance with reflectors

a,⁎ b c
crossmark
Z.M. Omara , A.E. Kabeel , A.S. Abdullah
a
Faculty of Engineering, Kafrelsheikh University, Egypt
b
Faculty of Engineering, Tanta University, Egypt
c
Faculty of Engineering, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia

A R T I C L E I N F O A BS T RAC T

Keywords: In numerous respects, the solar still is a perfect wellspring of freshwater for both agriculture and drinking in
Reflectors remote areas or islands. There are numerous sorts of solar stills; the least difficult and most demonstrated is the
Solar still basin solar still (conventional solar still). Investigations demonstrated that the conventional still has
Solar distillation constrained productivity. Scientists have taken efforts to make diverse designs of solar stills to improve the
Review
productivity and deduced that solar stills integrated with reflectors are one of the most efficient and effective
designs. The reflectors, either external or internal, are a good and cheap modification to increase the solar
irradiation directed to the basin liner or the water as well as the distillate efficiency of the still. In this paper, a
broad survey for diverse solar stills with reflectors has been conducted.

1. Introduction
People living in remote areas or islands, where freshwater supply by
transport is expensive, face the problem of water shortage every day.
Solar still presents specific advantages to be used in these areas due to
its easier construction, minimum skills of operation and maintenance
requirements, and friendliness to the environment. The clean free
energy and friendly to the environment are two major advantages
which strengthen the use of solar stills. The main disadvantage of solar
stills is the low yield of freshwater in comparison with the other
desalination systems. The production capacity for a simple type still is
only between 2–5 l/m2/day. This makes the solar stills uneconomical
compared to the other conventional desalination systems [1].
Several researchers have reviewed, thoroughly, the recent work on
solar stills such as classification of solar stills [2], design of solar stills
[3], improvement techniques of solar stills [4], passive solar stills [5],
active solar stills [6], inclined solar stills [7], stepped solar stills [8],
wick type solar stills [9], and condensers with solar stills [10].
There is no specific accessible survey on solar stills with reflectors.
Along these lines, this work is to make a documental survey on the
solar stills combined with external and internal reflectors.
used to change the direction of solar beams to improve the flexibility of
the absorber plate configuration such as vertical solar absorber plate
which is helpful in recovering vapor latent heat of condensation.
External and/or internal reflectors are recommended when sunlight
is frail or the local temperature is moderately low, Fig. 1.
3. Classification of reflectors with solar stills
To get higher distillate yield, researchers introduced many efforts to
make different designs of solar stills. They inferred that the solar still
integrated with reflectors is effective and efficient. The reflectors with
solar stills can be divided into three types; internal reflectors, external
reflectors (top and bottom), and combination between internal and
external reflectors. Utilizing external and/or internal reflectors can be
an economical approach to expand the solar irradiation incident on the
basin liner to make the productivity high as can as possible. A simple
comparison of different solar stills with reflectors is illustrated in
Table 1. They are compared based on location, daily yield, productivity
improvement (%), efficiency, and observations in experiment.
3.1. Internal reflectors (IRs)

2. Working of conventional solar still with reflectors
Internal reflectors are useful tools to concentrate and redirect solar
radiation. They are recommended when sunlight is weak or the local
temperature is relatively low. External reflectors are preferred to be
The reflectors (internal reflectors) inside the solar still affect
significantly the output of distilled water, which is credited to the
centralization of the reflected solar radiation incident on the water.
Besides, reflectors decrease the waste heat energy from the solar still.
Tamimi [11] studied experimentally the performance of a single-slope

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zm_omara@yahoo.com (Z.M. Omara).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.10.031
Received 7 December 2015; Received in revised form 25 September 2016; Accepted 20 October 2016
Available online 28 October 2016
1364-0321/ Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Z.M. Omara et al.
Fig. 1. A basin solar still with reflectors [41].
single-basin solar still with mirrors installed on the side walls of a still.
He concluded that using mirrors increases the basin efficiency through-
out the whole day. El-Swify and Metias [12] used mathematical
modeling and conducted experiments to find out the effect of IRs on
the back and side walls of a single slope still with its back wall acting as
an additional condenser, Fig. 2. They mentioned that the distillate
increase of 82.6% and 22% can be obtained by installing reflectors in
the winter and summer, respectively.
A new design of solar still consisting of a metallic cylindrical
parabolic reflector has been studied by Minasian et al. [13]. The
reflector was designed to concentrate incident solar radiation on the
black outside surface of a tray located on the focal line of the reflector.
The tray was lined with blackened wick, representing the evaporative
surface of the proposed still, as shown in Fig. 3. They showed that the
productivity of the new still was 25–35% greater than that of a
conventional basin type still.
Abdallah et al. [14] provided modified design of basin solar still.
The design modification was fixing interior reflecting mirrors on the
internal walls of the still to minimize the amount of energy lost, Fig. 4.
The experimental results showed that the use of internal mirrors
improved the system thermal performance up to 30%. The still design
was modified from flat basin to stepwise basin and the efficiency
increased by an average value of 180%.
AlHayek and Badran [15] compared the performances of a double-
slope basin solar still and a single-slope basin solar still. The interior
surfaces of whole walls were made of mirrors. They performed their
experiments during August and concluded that using mirrors on the
inside walls of the single slope basin solar still enhanced the production
of distilled water by 20% higher than the double basin solar stills,
Fig. 5.
The effect of an internal reflector (IR) on the productivity of a
single-slope solar still (during the summer and winter) was investi-
gated experimentally and theoretically by Karimi et al. [16], Fig. 6.
They presented a mathematical model considering the effect of all walls
(north, south, west and east) of the still on the amount of received solar
radiation to brine. The model was validated with the experimental data.
The model can calculate the yield of the still with and without IR on
various walls. The results showed that the simultaneous use of IR on
front and side walls enhances the still's efficiency by 18%. However,
installation of an IR on the back wall can increase the annual efficiency
by 22%. The installation of IRs on all walls in comparison to a still
without IR can increase the distillate production at winter, summer,
and the entire year by 65%, 22%, and 34%, respectively.
A modification of the stepped solar still through installing IRs on
the vertical sides of steps (Fig. 7) was introduced by Omara et al. [17].
As expected, the productivity of the stepped still with IRs was higher
than that without the IRs. The results also indicated that the
productivity of the modified stepped solar still with and without IRs
is higher than that of the conventional still by approximately 75% and
57%, respectively. Also, the efficiency of the stepped still with and
without reflectors was 56% and 53% respectively, whereas, the
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 68 (2017) 638–649
efficiency of the conventional still was only 34%.
The performance parameters of the Corrugated Solar Still (CrSS)
and Conventional Solar Still (CSS) were investigated experimentally by
Omara et al. [18]. The authors' view concerns with using both double
layer wick material and reflectors together inside the CrSS, Fig. 8. In
addition, the influence of saline water depth (1, 2, and 3 cm) on CrSS
performance was also investigated. During experimentations, the
product of CrSS with wick and reflectors is about 145.5% higher than
the CSS at a brine depth of 1 cm. Besides, the daily efficiencies of CrSS
and CSS were approximately 59% and 33%, respectively. In another
experimental research by Omara et al. [19], a hybrid solar distillation
system comprising of corrugated and wick absorbers of solar stills was
integrated with an external condenser and internal reflectors to
examine their performance, Fig. 9. They illustrated that the productiv-
ity of corrugated wick still with reflectors and external condenser was
improved by about 180% over CSS at a brine depth of 1 cm.
3.2. External reflectors (ERs)
The external reflectors (ERs) used in the solar still are made up of
highly reflective materials such as mirror finished metal plate. The
diffuse and direct beams transmitted through the glass cover are
improved by using the ERs. Hiroshi Tanaka is the most scientist
concerning to study the effects of reflectors on the distillate of stills.
3.2.1. External top reflectors
Tanaka et al. [20–22] conducted numerical investigation on a tilted
wick solar still (TWSS) with a top mirror (vertical [20], forwards [21]
and backwards [22]) extending from the upper edge of the still. They
displayed geometrical models to compute the solar irradiation reflected
from a top mirror and then absorbed on the evaporating wick. They
concluded that the top mirror can increment the absorbed solar
radiation by evaporating wick, and further, the amount of solar
irradiation reflected from the top mirror and absorbed on the wick
can be enhanced by inclining the top mirror to be backwards in
summer and forwards in winter.
A theoretical analysis was used by Tanaka and Nakatake [20] to
study the effect of a vertical flat plate ER on the productivity of a TWSS
and showed an average increase of 9% a year, Fig. 10. Another
theoretical analysis of a top ER with TWSS on a winter was investigated
by Tanaka and Nakatake [21], Fig. 11. Their results indicated that the
productivity of a still with an inclined reflector would be around 15% or
27% over that with a vertical reflector when the reflector's length is a
half of or the same as the still's length.
In addition, a theoretical analysis was made on TWSS with external
top reflector with the aim of determining optimum inclination for both
reflector and solar still for different seasons by Hiroshi Tanaka [22],
Fig. 12. Regarding to the results obtained, 30°N latitude was repre-
sented as the best inclination angle either for the still or the reflector
monthly. In addition, he concluded that for any season the daily
productivity of the solar still can be improved by adjusting the
inclination of both the reflector and solar still, thus producing around
21% over the traditional TWSS throughout the year.
Tanaka and Nakatake [23] displayed another theoretical investiga-
tion of one-step azimuth tracking TWSS with a vertical flat plate
reflector, Fig. 13. The TWSS is assumed to be rotated manually just
once a day at southing of the sun. They performed numerical analyses
of heat and mass transfer in the still to determine the daily productivity
of the still on four typical days: the spring and autumn equinoxes and
summer and winter solstice days at 30°N latitude. For four days, results
indicated that the increase in the productivity of TWSS would be
around 41%, and can be accomplished by the simple modification of
utilizing a reflector.
E1-Bahi and Inan [24] examined a conventional still integrated
with an outside condenser, Fig. 14. A reflector made of stainless steel
was added to the glass cover to reflect the solar radiation into the still
Z.M. Omara et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 68 (2017) 638–649

Table 1
A simple comparison of different solar still with reflectors.

No Categorization Authors Locations Reflector - Daily yield (kg/m2/d) Reflectors effect Observations in experiment
(Latitude) material - Improvement (%)
- Efficiency

1. Internal reflectors
1 El-Swify et al. Cairo, Egypt (25° Mirrors 3.05–7.2 82.6% The cooling effect of the back glass
[12] N) 82.6% in winter 22% 22% cover, back condenser, is improved due
in summer to the higher temperature difference as
– compared to the ordinary one.
2 Conventional still Minasian et al. Baghdad, Lraq, Stainless 1.23–6 25–35% The productivity of the conventional
[13]. (33.33°N) steel 25–35% basin type solar stil1 has been increased
– by using a stainless steel cylindrical
parabolic reflector.
3 Abdallah et al. Amman, Jordan, Mirrors 1.64 30% Installing internal side mirrors gave
[14] (32°N) 30% better performance because these
~ mirrors make use of the energy
reflected on all sides of the solar still.
4 AlHayek and Amman, Jordan Mirrors – 20% Performance characteristics of the stills
Badran [15] (32°N) 20% showed that the temperature at the
11% water surface is increased with
decreasing water depth, and by the
addition of dye.
5 Karimi et al. Iran. (30°N) Mirrors – 34% The installation of IRs on all walls in
[16] 34% comparison to a still without IR can
– increase the distillate production at
winter, summer and the entire year by
65%, 22% and 34%, respectively.
6 Stepped solar still Omara et al. Kafrelsheikh, Mirrors 6.35 18% Productivity of stepped still with and
[17] Egypt, (31.07°N) 75% without internal reflectors was higher
56% than the conventional still by 75% and
57% respectively.
7 Corrugated wick solar still Omara et al. Kafrelsheikh, Mirrors 4.1 55% The yield of Corrugated wick solar still
[18] and [19] Egypt, (31.07°N) 145.5% with reflectors when providing a
58% vacuum was enhanced to about 180%
higher than the conventional still.
2. External reflectors
External top reflectors
8 Tilted wick solar still Tanaka and Kurume, Japan Mirrors – 9% The average daily amount of distillate
Nakatake [20] (33°N) 9% for four days, (spring and autumn
– equinox and summer and winter
solstice days), peaks when the angle of
the still is 20° for the still with the
reflector, and peaks at 30° for the still
without the reflector.
9 Tanaka and Kurume, Japan Mirrors 4.2 15% The inclined reflector can increase the
Nakatake [21] (30°N) 15% distillate productivity of the still at any
– still's inclination, and the reflector's
inclination should be set at about 15°
from vertical.
10 Tanaka [22] Kurume, Japan Mirrors – 21% The distillate can be increased by
(30°N) 21% During the year inclining the reflector backwards in
– winter and forwards in summer, and
the inclination angle of the reflector
would be less than 25° throughout the
year.
11 Conventional still coupled E1-Bahi and Ankara, Turkey, Stainless – – The efficiency of the solar still was
with external stainless Inan [24] (39.6°N) steel improved up to more than 70%, and the
steel reflector and outside distilled fresh water was up to 71/m2.d
condenser when a solar still coupled with an
external stainless steel reflector and
outside condenser
12 Conventional still Shanmugan Tamil Nadu, Mirrors 4.2 – The efficiency of the still was as high as
et al. [26] India (11.30°N) – 35%, and increased to 45% with the
45 mirror booster.
13 Conventional still With Srivastava et al. Rewa India Mirrors 79 79% The twin reflector booster has to be
twin reflector [27] (24.32°N) reoriented only once in a day at mid-
noon.
14 “V” type solar still Selva Kumar India (22°N) Mirrors 2.7 7.3% The main advantage of the “V” type
et al. [28] 7.3 solar still is due to center collection and
12 all the condensation are easily directed
to the outlet.
External bottom reflectors
15 Double slope single basin Sebaii [29] Tanta, Egypt (31° Mirrors – 19% and 30% The daily productivity of the double
solar still N) 19% and 30% summer and slope single basin solar still with
summer and winter winter mirrors is higher than that without
– mirrors, due to the increased basin
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Table 1 (continued)

No Categorization Authors Locations Reflector - Daily yield (kg/m2/d) Reflectors effect Observations in experiment
(Latitude) material - Improvement (%)
- Efficiency

water temperature and water-glass

temperature difference.
16 Diffusion-type solar still Tanaka and Kurume, Japan, Mirrors 34.2 and 39.7 spring – The overall daily productivity decreases
Nakatake [30] (30°N) and winter with a decrease in reflectivity, and the
– productivity is about 23% less when
– reflectivity is 0.6 than when reflectivity
is 0.95.
17 Tanaka and Kurume, Japan, Mirrors 30 throughout the year – The angle of the flat plate reflector
Nakatake [32] (30°N) except for the winter at should basically be fixed at 10°, and
40°N latitude. changed to be 0° during the winter
season at higher latitudes
18 Tilted wick solar still Tanaka [35] Kurume, Japan Mirrors – 13% The distillate would be greatest when
(30°N) 13% the flat plate bottom reflector
– inclination is about 20° on the winter
solstice, 30° on the spring and autumn
equinox and 50° on the summer
solstice.
Different designs
19 Inverted absorber solar Dev et al. [36] Muscat, Oman Steel 6.3 200% The maximum optimized water depth
still (23.37°N) 200% can be taken as 0.03 m for the inverted
– absorber solar still at which the
addition of reflector under the basin
does not affect its performance
considerably in comparison to that of
the CSS.
20 Double slope solar still Al-Garni [38] Dhahran Saudi Mirrors 4.03 82% in winter Four inclined mirrors were placed
Arabia (26°N) 82% around the still to reflect extra solar
in winter irradiance onto the solar still.
3. Internal and external reflectors
3.1 Internal and external reflectors (top and bottom)
21 Stepped solar still (with Omara et al. Kafrelsheikh, Mirrors 8.10 68% The productivity of the stepped still
5 mm tray depth and [39] Egypt, (31.07°N) 125% with top ER and bottom ER are about
120 mm tray width) ~61 33% and 41% higher than that of the
conventional still, respectively.
22 Stepped solar still (with El-Samadony Kafrelsheikh, Mirrors 7.4 77% The productivity of the stepped still
5 mm tray depth and et al. [40] Egypt, (31.07°N) 108% with both reflectors and a condenser
100 mm tray width) ~59% are about 165% higher than that of the
conventional still. The daily efficiency is
about 66%
23 Conventional still Tanaka [41] Kurume, Japan, Mirrors 1.58 75% A very simple modification using IERs
(Internal and top (30°N) 75% can increase the daily productivity of a
reflector) – basin type still in winter by about 70–
100%.
24 Tanaka [42] Kurume, Japan, Mirrors ~7 48% Increase in productivity by using IERs
(30°N) 48% is 48% and by adding only internal
– reflector it was 22%.
25 Tanaka [44] Kurume, Japan, Mirrors – 12% The benefit of both the IERs would be
(30°N) 12% considerably less in summer than in
– winter.
26 Tanaka [45] Kurume, Japan, Mirrors – 43% The daily amount of distillate can be
(30°N) 43% increased by inclining the ER
– backwards in summer and forwards in
other seasons, and the inclination angle
of the ER would be less than 25°
throughout the year.
27 Khalifa and Baghdad, Iraq, Mirrors – 32% The average daily yield is increased by
Ibrahim [46]. (33.3°N) 32% During the year the use of IR and/or ER except for
– summer where the effect of the
reflectors is found to be negative.
28 Khalifa and Baghdad, Iraq Mirrors – 145% The daily yield of the still with no
Ibrahim [47]. (33.3°N) 145% In winter reflectors would remain almost the
– same at any glass cover angle.
29 Boubekri and Constantine, Mirrors 3.5 72.8% in winter The night production of the still
Chaker [49] Algeria (36°N) 72.8% in winter increases when the still is coupled with
– a storage tank out of the sunshine
hours. This increase is about 27.54%,
21% and 23.28% respectively for
winter, spring and summer.
30 Portable thermal– Monowe et al. Moscow, Russia aluminum 5 43% Using reflectors and external condenser
electrical solar still [50] (55°45′N) foil 43% can increase the daily productivity of a
– still to 68%.
31 Conventional still Tanaka [51] Kurume, Japan, Mirrors – 42% Productivity of the still with internal
(Internal and bottom (30°N) 42% During the year and external reflectors was 41%, 25%
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Table 1 (continued)
No Categorization Authors Locations
(Latitude)
reflector)
Fig. 2. The double exposure solar still with IRs [12].
Fig. 3. A basin solar still with cylindrical parabolic reflector [13].
Fig. 4. A basin solar still with IRs [14].
Fig. 5. A basin solar still with IRs [15].
basin through the glass cover and to give a shadow for the condenser.
The study led to the conclusion that the efficiency of the solar still was
enhanced by about 70% and the daily productivity was up to 7 l/m2 a
day.
Madhlopa and Johnstone [25] proposed a model to calculate the
distribution of solar irradiation inside a conventional still with reflector
and external condenser, Fig. 15. The system had one basin (basin 1) in
the evaporation chamber and two other basins (2 and 3) in the
condenser chamber. It had a glass cover over the evaporator basin
and an opaque condensing cover over basin 3. Water vapor from the
first basin condenses under the glass cover while the remainder flows
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 68 (2017) 638–649
Reflector - Daily yield (kg/m2/d) Reflectors effect Observations in experiment
material - Improvement (%)
- Efficiency
– and 62% greater than the conventional
still on the spring, summer and winter
solstices, respectively.
Fig. 6. A single-slope solar still with IRs [16].
Fig. 7. Stepped still with IRs [17].
Fig. 8. Corrugated solar still with wick and reflectors [18].
into the condenser by purging, diffusion, and condenses under the liner
of basin 2. They found that distilled freshwater was about 2.2 kg/m2 a
day.
The performance of an acrylic mirror boosted solar distillation unit
was studied by Shanmugan et al. [26]. The performance of solar still in
terms of distilled water collection has been analyzed and a booster
mirror (acrylic) was attached just above the glass cover of solar still.
The mirror boosting reflects the excess solar radiation to water and it is
possible to adjust the booster mirror for perfect reflection depending
upon the sun moving angle as shown in Fig. 16. The maximum amount
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Fig. 9. Corrugated wick solar still with reflectors and vacuum fan [19].

Fig. 12. TWSS with external top reflector [22].

Fig. 13. One step azimuth tracking TWSS with reflector [23].
Fig. 10. Top vertical external reflector with TWSS [20].

Fig. 14. Conventional still integrated with a top reflector [24].

Fig. 11. Top external reflector with TWSS [21].

of water collected per day was about 4.2 L. The efficiency of the still was
as high as 35%, and increased to 45% with the mirror booster.
Srivastava et al. [27] performed experiments of a modified solar still
with multiple low thermal inertia porous absorbers, Fig. 17. The
absorbers were made up of jute cloth and they float on the basin water Fig. 15. Basin solar still with reflector and external condenser [25].
with the help of thermocol insulation. The surfaces of the absorbers
were always wet and hence there were no dry spots. The results showed 79% over the still without booster.
that the productivity was 68% more than the conventional still and 35% The thermal performance of a “V” type solar still with a charcoal
more on cloudy days. The basin water below the floating absorber absorber was analyzed by Selva Kumar et al. [28]. The main advantage
remained warm during off-shine hours, and hence, the distillate was of this type of still is that the distilled water collection was directed
produced even at nights. A twin reflector booster was placed perpendi- towards the central water collection channel as shown in Fig. 18. The
cular to each other on the modified stills. The productivity increased by production of the outlet distillate water had increased. The overall

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Fig. 19. Schematic of double slope single basin solar with ER [29].

Fig. 16. View of solar distillation unit with mirror booster [26].

Fig. 17. Twin reflector booster applied to solar still [27].

Fig. 20. Diffusion type solar still with ER [30].

adjusted manually to absorb solar radiation on the first partition

Fig. 18. “V” type solar still with ER [28].
efficiency was found to be 24.47% and 11.92% for the still without and
with the boosting mirror, respectively. He also conducted similar
experiments which were carried out for the charcoal absorber in the
still without and with the boosting mirror which yielded 30.05% and
14.10% respectively.
effectively according to locations and seasons. Their results showed
that the angle of the flat plate reflector should be fixed at about 10°
throughout the year.
Another design is presented by Tanaka and Nakatake [31] for the
conventional still. It was a solar still having vertical multiple-effect
diffusion. It was compromising a flat mirror, a vertical parallel
partitions contacted with wicks, and small casters. The casters were
used for tracking, Fig. 21. Their suggested solar still is easy to construct
utilizing common materials and is easy to operate. They analyzed
theoretically the dependence of the solar absorption of the first (or
heated) partition on the azimuth angle of the still and the mirror angle.
They concluded from their research that preparing the still to rotate
just one time a day at the south side would increase the amount of solar
absorption of the first partition. Besides, the daily solar absorption
would be around 99% or 85% of the daily solar irradiation on a
horizontal surface on the winter solstice or spring equinox, respec-
tively.
The optimum angle of a flat plate reflector and the optimum
orientation of a vertical multiple-effect diffusion solar still coupled

3.2.2. External bottom reflectors

The rapid spoiling of the inner mirrors was identified as a
disadvantage of using mirrors inside the solar still (Sebaii [29]).
Therefore, Sebaii [29] used external mirrors to investigate the perfor-
mance of a double slope single basin solar (DSSBS). Two mirrors were
tilted at an angle and fixed to the outer side of the solar still, Fig. 19. It
was reported that the radiation falling on the solar still was increased
significantly with the use of these external mirrors. It was found that
the daily productivity of the DSSBS with mirrors was about 19% and
30% higher than that of DSSBS without mirrors during the summer
and winter, respectively due to the increased basin water temperature
and water-glass temperature difference.
Tanaka and Nakatake [30] investigated another developed system
which consists of a flat plate reflector, casters for manual azimuth
tracking, and vertical multiple effect diffusion type still, Fig. 20. The
angle of the flat plate reflector and azimuth angle of the still can be Fig. 21. Diffusion type solar still with ER [31].

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Fig. 22. Diffusion solar still with ER [33].
with a flat plate reflector throughout the year were numerically
determined by Tanaka and Nakatake [32], with the assumption of
being the still located at the equator and at 10°, 20°, 30° and 40°
northern latitude, Fig. 20. The optimum orientation of the still which
maximizes the distillate productivity of the proposed still was calcu-
lated assuming that the orientation of the still is changed once during
daytime at southing of the sun. They found that the angle of the flat
plate reflector should be basically fixed at 10° from horizontal and
changed to be 0° during the winter season (around December) at
higher latitudes. The orientation of the still should be adjusted
according to month at any latitude. The daily productivity of the
proposed still was predicted to be more than 30 kg/m2 a day at any
latitude throughout the year except for the winter season (from
November to January) at 40°N latitude.
Tanaka and Nakatake [33] presented also the results of outdoor
experiments for vertical single-effect diffusion solar still, Fig. 22. To
know the effect of still orientation deeply, the authors had to make the
reflector's inclination angle to be fixed, and change the still orientation
just one time a day at the south side. They got the result that during the
winter and summer seasons, the optimum reflector angles were 0° and
10° respectively. The optimum orientation was varied according to
month. It should be from ± 22.5° (South-Southeast during the morning
and South-Southwest during the afternoon) in winter to ± 90° (due
East and due West) in summer, when the still is located at 33.2°N
latitude.
A vertical multiple-effect-diffusion-type solar still coupled with a
flat plate reflector (Fig. 23) was also studied by Tanaka [34]. It was
concluded that the optimum angle of the flat plate reflector should be
0° during the winter season and 10° during the summer season, when
the still is located at 33.2°N latitude. The daily productivity of the
system with 10 partitions and 10 mm diffusion gaps between partitions
was predicted to be about 5–6 times as large as that of a single-effect
Fig. 23. Diffusion solar still coupled with ER [34].
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Fig. 24. TWSS with bottom ER [35].
vertical still and was predicted to produce 29.2 and 34.6 l/m2 a day on
sunny spring equinox and winter solstice days, respectively at the
equator.
Another theoretically investigation of TWSS with a bottom mirror
on four days (the summer and winter solstices and spring and autumn
equinox) at 30°N latitude was studied by Tanaka [35] when the still's
inclination is fixed at 30° and the reflector's length is the same as the
still's length, Fig. 24. He proposed a geometrical model to calculate the
solar irradiation reflected by the bottom mirror and then absorbed by
the wick. Results showed that the bottom mirror can reflect sunrays to
the evaporating wick and increase distillate freshwater of the TWSS
when the reflector's inclination is larger than 15° on the spring,
autumn, and winter, and 25° on the summer. Besides, the inclination
angle of 35° for the reflector made the four days’ average productivity
to have the highest amount of distillate, and then, the yield was higher
than that of conventional TWSS by 13%.
3.2.3. Different designs
Dev et al. [15] reported that the daily yields obtained from the basin
solar still combined with a curved reflector were 6.3, 5.6 and 4.3 kg/m2
a day at water depths of 0.01, 0.02, and 0.03 m, respectively (Fig. 25).
At the same respective water depths, the daily yields obtained from the
basin solar still were 2.1, 1.9, 0.8 kg/m2 a day respectively.
Nassar et al. [37] conducted experiments of a solar desalination
system working on the basis of evacuation, Fig. 26. Concave mirror was
used to concentrate the solar energy on the still. The still works under
vacuum conditions (25 kPa absolute) to reduce the boiling point of the
saline water. A condenser condenses the outlet vapor and the distillate
was collected. The productivity of the still was found to be 20 l/m2 a
day when using reflector compared to 5 kg/m2 a day for the conven-
tional still. The results showed that the productivity of the still was
about 303% compared with the other stills.
Al-Garni [38] carried out an experimental work in winter for a
double slope solar still with external reflectors, Fig. 27. Experiments
Fig. 25. Inverted absorber solar still with curved ER [36].
Z.M. Omara et al.
Fig. 26. Solar desalination system with concave ER [37].
Fig. 27. Double slope solar with ER [38].
were performed in Dhahran (a city in the eastern province of Saudi
Arabia at latitude 26°N). Four inclined mirrors were placed around the
still to reflect extra solar irradiance onto the solar still. Numerical
analysis was also carried out using heat and mass transfer inside the
solar still and was validated with the experimental results. The results
showed that the external reflectors significantly enhanced the produc-
tivity of the solar still by approximately 82% as observed.
3.3. Internal and External reflectors (IERs)
In another paper, the performance of the stepped still with IERs
was evaluated by Omara et al. [39]. Fig. 28 shows a photograph of the
stepped still with external (top and bottom) and internal mirrors. They
found that the accumulative distillate of the stepped still with IERs was
over the conventional still by about 125%.
An experimental study of stepped solar still with external condenser
and IERs was conducted by El-Samadony et al. [40] with a tray width
Fig. 28. Stepped still with IERs [39].
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 68 (2017) 638–649
Fig. 29. Stepped still integrated with IERs and condenser [40].
equals to the step width of 100 mm, Fig. 29. Stepped still was
compared with conventional still to evaluate the performance well.
Results showed that installing internal and external reflectors led to
increase the glass temperature (about 9 °C over conventional still's)
and thus led to resistance of condensation. In addition, the tempera-
ture of saline water for stepped still was over that of conventional still
by around 16 °C. That is why using the external condenser was
important. So, the daily amount of stepped still distillate increased
by about 165% over that of conventional still, when both of external
condenser and reflectors were used.
Tanaka [41] designed a basin still with IERs, Fig. 30, consisting of a
basin liner with internal reflectors, a glass cover, and an external top
reflector. Compared to the conventional basin solar still, more solar
radiation was introduced into the still by the reflectors. The daily
productivity could be increased by 70–100% on winter days.
In addition, Tanaka et al. [42] presented a theoretical analyses of a
basin type solar still with IERs, Fig. 31. It was found that the
productivity increased considerably throughout the year except for
the summer season. During the summer season, the external reflector
made shadow on the basin liner in the morning and evening and hence
the productivity decreased. The increase in productivity for one year by
adding IERs was 48%. While, with adding only internal reflector, the
increase in productivity was around 22%.
In 2007, Tanaka and Nakatake [43] predicted theoretically the
performance of conventional still with IERs on a winter day at 30° N
latitude, Fig. 32. They proposed another geometrical method for
calculating the solar irradiation reflected by the inclined external
mirror and then absorbed by the basin liner. They showed that the
benefits from the vertical external mirror would be littler or even
insignificant for a still with a bigger worth for the glass cover angle.
Fig. 30. A Conventional still with IERs [41].
Z.M. Omara et al.
Fig. 31. A basin type solar still with IERs [42].
Fig. 32. A conventional still with IERs [43].
While, an inclined external mirror could improve the still production
rate at any angle of glass cover, and the external mirror angle should be
set at about 15° from vertical on a winter solstice day. For a winter day,
the results revealed that the still output yield was increased by 16%
when using the inclined mirror than that when using external vertical
mirror. Besides, it was 2.3 times greater than that of conventional still.
Tanaka [44] presented theoretical analyses to obtain the effects of
slant external mirror on daily productivity of a conventional solar still
with IERs on the summer at 30°N latitude, Fig. 33. They found that the
productivity of the still increased by inclining the external reflector
slightly backwards. In addition, the daily productivity of solar still with
both the external and internal mirrors was increased with decreasing
the slant of glass cover. Also, an optimum slant backwards from vertical
of the external mirror depends on the glass cover slant, and would be in
Fig. 33. A conventional still with IERs [44].
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 68 (2017) 638–649
Fig. 34. A basin solar still with IERs [45].
the range of 10–25° from vertical when the glass cover slant is from 10°
to 40°. Also, he showed that the increase of the daily productivity by
inclining the external mirror from vertical would be about 7% or 12%
when the length of the external mirror is a half of or the same as the
still's length.
In 2010, Tanaka [45] studied theoretically the effects of IERs on
both the amount of solar irradiation absorbed by the basin liner and as
well as the daily productivity of a basin still, Fig. 34. The external
reflector was inclined backwards or forwards according to the month.
Results indicated that the optimum external mirror slant for each
month for a still with a glass cover slant of 10–50°. The increase in the
average daily productivity during the year of a still with inclined
external mirror with optimum slant in addition to an internal mirror,
compared to a basin still was anticipated to be 29%, 43% or 67% when
the glass cover inclination is 10°, 30° or 50° and the length of external
mirror is half the length of still.
Khalifa and Ibrahim [46] examined experimentally the perfor-
mance of a basin-type solar still with IRs and ERs (inclined at angles
0° (vertical), 10°, 20° and 30°) from June to December, Fig. 35. They
concluded that using IRs increased the yield by an average of 19.7%
during this period. In addition, the increase in the output of the still
with ERs is averaged at 34.5%, 34.4%, 34.8%, and 24.7% at 0°, 10°,
20°, and 30°, respectively.
In a separate study, Khalifa and Ibrahim [47] performed an
experimental investigation (latitude 33.3°N) of a solar still with IERs
tilted at 0° (vertical), 10°, 20°, and 30° for cover slope angles 20°, 30°,
and 40°. They found the productivity to be highest for the still having
slope angle 20°, internal and external reflector inclined at 20° and its
daily distillate will be 145% over simple still, Fig. 36.
In another work, using IERs, Khalifa and Ibrahim [48] did an
Fig. 35. A conventional still with IERs [46].
Z.M. Omara et al.
Fig. 36. A conventional solar still with IERs [47].
Fig. 37. A basin solar still with IERs [48].
experimental study (latitude 33.3°N) on a solar still for summer,
autumn, and winter seasons, Fig. 37. When only an internal reflector
was used, the productivity increased by 19.9%. Whereas the combina-
tion of internal and external reflectors increased the productivity by
35.5%. The use of reflectors was concluded to have an insignificant
effect on productivity for summer season.
Boubekri and Chaker [49] reported that using IERs had the effect of
increasing the productivity by up to 72.8% in the winter, 40.33% in the
spring, and only 7.54% in the summer, Fig. 38. They also found that
integrating a thermal storage tank with the solar still increased the
productivity by 27.5%, 21%, and 23.2% in the winter, spring, and
summer respectively.
A new configuration of a portable thermal–electrical solar still with
an outside condenser and an external reflecting booster was proposed
by Monowe et al. [50], Fig. 39. The angle of the booster reflector was
adjusted each hour starting from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. The IERs were
Fig. 38. Active solar still with IERs [49].
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 68 (2017) 638–649
Fig. 39. The combined reflector with thermal–electrical solar still [50].
made of aluminum foil glued to some hard boards. Their results
showed that the daily productivity was 5.0 l, and the efficiency of the
still increased to 43%.
A conventional solar still with an external bottom and internal
(back and two side walls) mirrors was presented theoretically on three
days (winter, spring, and summer) by Tanaka [51] at 30°N latitude,
Fig. 40. He indicated that the external reflector can reflect sunrays to
the basin liner and improve daily productivity. The productivity of the
still with external bottom and internal mirror was anticipated to be
41%, 25%, and 62% over a basin still on the spring, summer, and
winter, respectively, by setting the external mirror's slant to the best
possible qualities as per the seasons when the glass cover's inclination
angle is fixed at 20° from horizontal and the length of the external
mirror is the same as the length of the still.
4. Scope for further research
There are still some problems and challenges on the design of solar
stills not being clearly analyzed for performance improvement, includ-
ing solar stills with reflectors. This paper reviews the studies and
developments of solar stills with reflectors. The results from the
preceding work done clearly show that the enhancement of solar stills
with reflectors performance differs greatly for different techniques due
to different experimental conditions. The review represents specific
inferences drawn from the analyses of solar stills with reflectors by
various authors to pave way researchers to grasp the previous designs
and to fabricate new designs with optimum design parameters for
higher distillate output.
Fig. 40. A Conventional still with external bottom and internal reflectors [51].
Z.M. Omara et al.
The following factors may be taken into consideration for further
research of solar stills with reflectors:
1. For active solar still:
11. Combine solar still with solar water heater in order to increase the
basin temperature.
12. For active solar stills, more research may be carried out with
reflectors.
13. Further studies should be conducted to improve the solar stills
productivity, especially in the fields of coupling with heat storage
and various waste heat sources.
2. For tracking system:
21. Solar still with azimuth sun tracking and just an adjustment of the
optimum elevation of the day.
22. Combine the solar still with sun tracking and the solar water
heater.
23. The sun tracking system is more effective than fixed still and it is
capable of improving the distillate output of the still with reflectors.
5. Conclusions
Reflectors are used to enhance the daily amount of distillate of the
solar still. The accompanying conclusions can be inferred on the basis
of above discussions:
• Installing reflectors is more practical in places where solar radiation
is weak and the ambient temperature is relatively low.
•
Installation angle of the external reflector should be changed with
the seasons to enhance the productivity through all the year.
• The external reflector is inclined backwards or forwards according to
the month.
• The daily productivity can be increased by adjusting the inclination
of both the still and reflector mirror in any season.
• The benefits of both the inclined external top and internal reflectors
would be considerably less in summer than in winter.
•
For the still with larger angle of the glass cover, the effect of the
external top reflector would be smaller.
• The vertical flat plate external reflector would be less effective for the
tilted wick solar still than for the conventional still.
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