Investigating the Safe Water Production using Conventional Solar Distillation Stills (CSSs) Integrated with Direct Current Apparatuses and Photovoltaic Modules- A Mini Review

Riahi, Ali; Yusof, Mohd Fazly; Bin Abu Hassan, Muhd Hazwan Hisyam; Mohd Arif Zainol, Mohd Remy Rozainy

doi:10.22048/wss.2025.483615.1013

Investigating the Safe Water Production using Conventional Solar Distillation Stills (CSSs) Integrated with Direct Current Apparatuses and Photovoltaic Modules- A Mini Review

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

Ali Riahi

Mohd Fazly Yusof

Muhd Hazwan Hisyam Bin Abu Hassan

Mohd Remy Rozainy Mohd Arif Zainol

River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia.

10.22048/wss.2025.483615.1013

Abstract

Safe water is water that is free from pathogenic agents, harmful chemical substances, and is free from color, odor, and taste, making it usable for domestic purposes. One of the low-cost water treatment techniques used to produce freshwater for remote and rural communities was the conventional solar still (CSS), which utilized only solar energy. Recently, integrating low-voltage direct current (DC) machines powered by photovoltaic modules with the CSSs to increase the CSS yield has received considerable attention in countries with abundant sunny days and a shortage of freshwater annually. Accordingly, this work reviews the performances of DC apparatuses integrated with CSSs, investigating the enhancement of CSSs’ basin water temperatures and productivities, and the potential elimination of pathogenic organisms from the basin water. The review method includes additional related studies, focusing on the application of CSS and DC, which were conducted worldwide 10 years ago. It was revealed that the DC apparatuses such as a DC fan, a DC heater, a DC rotating shaft motor, four DC stirrers and two DC rubber scrapers integrated with different designs of the conventional solar stills (CSSs) were effective to increase the basin water temperatures, evaporation rates and hence, the CSSs’ frehswater production. Moreover, it was concluded that designing and constructing a CSS with a smaller-scale basin or absorber and having a low water capacity in its basin, while integrating with DC machines, is vital to achieve higher working temperatures and prevent the transfer of pathogens and viruses to the CSS’s distillates.

Keywords

Forced Convection

Photovoltaic Modules

Solar Desalination Still

Water Production

Subjects