A solar hybrid system for power generation and water distillation

Abstract

A solar still of a single basin-slope coupled with a finned condensing chamber and photovoltaic cells immersed in the water basin and thermoelectric generators installed in the base of the basin has been presented in this paper. A mathematical model under steady-state conditions has been introduced and improved to investigate the system performance. An increase of solar radiation and ambient temperature or a decrease in wind velocity affect positively the distillation rate, still efficiency, system efficiency, and output power. Integrating fins through the wall of condenser increase the distillation rate of the proposed system. When the ambient temperature increases from 10 to 35 °C, the water distillation, still efficiency, and system efficiency will be increased up to 27%, 21%, and 28% respectively, but the power output will be decreased up to 16.6% at solar radiation of 1000 W/m2. Moreover, when the ambient temperature increases from 10 to 35 °C, the water distillation, still efficiency, system efficiency, and power output will be decreased up to 37%, 32%, 34%, and 17%, respectively, at a wind speed of 10 m/s. Also, the water distillation, still efficiency, and system efficiency of the solar still with a condensing chamber will be higher than the conventional solar still up to 7%, 8%, and 7% respectively, but the power output will be decreased up to 3% at solar radiation of 1000 W/m2. While in the third design, solar still with a finned condensing chamber, the water distillation, still efficiency, and system efficiency will be higher than the conventional solar still up to 14%, 12.5%, and 11% respectively, but the power output will be decreased up to 6% at solar radiation of 1000 W/m2. The results of the simulation have been verified by comparing them with published theoretical and experimental results and the comparison shows very good agreement.