Effect of inclination of the external reflector of simple solar still in winter: An experimental investigation for different cover angles

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the productivity of a basin type solar still with internal and external reflector tilted at angles of 0° (vertical), 10°, 20° and 30° for still cover angles of 20°, 30° and 40°. A simple still equipped with internal and external reflectors is investigated in winter at latitude angle of 33.3° N. It was found that the daily productivity is greater for a still with a larger cover angle at any reflector angle. The daily productivity of the still with no reflectors would remain almost the same at any glass cover angle. The benefit of the vertical external reflector in winter is decreased as the cover angle exceeds 40°. The most productive solar still in winter is a still that has a cover angle of 20° and an internal and external reflector inclined at 20°; its productivity will be around 2.45 times that of simple still with no reflectors. The conclusions of this study validated the trend of some of the theoretical results cited in the literature at 30° N latitude.