Analysis of critical parameters for material-based solar evaporation

Abstract

This manuscript presents a critical assessment of water evaporation measurements reported in solar evaporation studies. To explore the critical properties required for solar evaporator materials, six materials, including five carbon-based materials and one tannin-derived foam were characterised and tested. Minimal differences were observed between the materials, with the best-performing material evaporating at 1.21 kg m−2 h−1 under 1 sun. Measurements were conducted using different two-dimensional geometries to highlight the significant errors in performance determination that can occur when using small areas relative to the water container area during evaporation. Large errors in performance determination were also confirmed in three-dimensional geometries with very small ratios of projected area to total area, such as shafts, as the calculated evaporation rate can artificially inflate performance.