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VSRD-MAP, Vol. 2 (6), 2012, 223-231

____________________________
1
Research Scholar,
2,
Professor,
1,2
Mechanical Engineering Department, Jamia Milya Islamia University, Delhi, INDIA.
3
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, TTE, Delhi, INDIA.
*Correspondence : skdubey1995@yahoo.com
R
RR E
EE S
SS E
EE A
AA R
RR C
CC H
HH A
AA R
RR T
TT I
II C
CC L
LL E
EE
Annual Performance of Passive and Hybrid (PVT)
Active Solar Stills
1
Badshah Alam,
2
Emran Khan and
3
Shiv Kumar*
ABSTRACT
The paper presents the comparative evaluation of the annual performance of single slope passive and hybrid
(PVT) active solar stills, tested for New Delhi climatic condition in India. Both stills were made of the same
material and of the same size. The temperature analysis of the systems show that during the day mean
temperature of the active solar still is higher than the passive solar still about 8-10
o
C. Higher yield is obtained
from the active solar still and ratio depends on the climatic conditions during the year. An efficiency of 9.1-
19.1% is obtained from the active solar still while the passive solar still performed at 9.8-28.4% during the year.
Keywords : Hybrid (PVT) Active Solar Still, Passive Solar Still, Annual Performance.
1. INTRODUCTION
Water is an important necessity for life. It is available in different forms such as seawater, surface water,
underground water, and atmospheric water
[1]
. In spite of large amount of water availability, the living being are
facing the problem of scarcity of potable water caused due to pollution, ignorance, decreasing level of water
table, and increasing use of water in various sectors, etc. Recent development in water desalination has been
reviewed by Delyannis and Belessiotis
[2]
. Solar distillation, an analogy to natural hydrological cycle, uses solar
energy to purify the saline/brackish water. It is an easy handling, low operating cost, and renewable energy
based technology. It uses a device called as solar still, to produce distilled (potable) water. Its productivity
depends upon various design, operational, and climatic parameters. A compact, lightweight solar distillation unit
would be beneficial in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster to provide short-term relief.
Researchers have shown that the productivity of single slope solar still varies from 1.0 to 1.5 kg/m
2
day in
winter to 2.02.5 kg/m
2
day in summer at the water depth 0.01m
[3, 4]
. Tiwari and Tiwari [5] have reported higher
Shiv Kumar et al / VSRD International Journal of Mechanical, Auto. & Prod. Engg. Vol. 2 (6), 2012
224
annual yield from the single slope solar still inclined at 30
o
among different inclinations angles and
recommended latitude angle as the optimum inclination angle of glass cover for New Delhi climatic condition.
Dev et al. [6] have shown that productivity decreases with an increase in water depth for inverted absorber and
single slope solar still on the basis of experimental and theoretical observations, and their characteristics. The
minimum water depth for inverted absorber and single slope solar still has been found to be 0.01m and
maximum water depth has been found to be 0.03m for these solar still under the climatic condition of Muscat,
Oman [6].
Solar water heating is also an application of solar energy to provide hot water under natural/forced thermo-
siphon effect in the presence of solar radiation and gravity. An active solar still [7] has been used for enhancing
evaporation/condensation or both processes, e.g. (i) FPC integrated with single/double slope solar still (Esteban
et al. [8], Kumar and Tiwari [9], Dwivedi and Tiwari [10]), (ii) solar still integrated with auxiliary heating
devices (Nassar et al. [11]), etc. An active solar still gets additional thermal energy to increase water
temperature by using other devices. Zaki et al. [7] have found 33% more distillate by using collector to preheat
the solar still water under thermosyphon.
Once thermal energy withdrawal is associated with the photovoltaic (PV) module, it is referred as hybrid (PVT)
system. Fujisawa and Tani [12] have done the annual energy based evaluation of hybrid photovoltaic/thermal
(PVT) collector. They predicted the higher output density from the system than in a unit PV module or in a
liquid flat plate collector. In this paper, annual performance of the two designs i.e. passive and hybrid (PVT)
active solar stills is presented. The results are based on the experimental test carried out during the year 2006-
2007 for the composite climate of New Delhi, India.
2. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP, PROCEDURE AND OBSERVATIONS
A single-slope solar still of basin area 1m
2
as shown in Figure 1a, is comprised of an insulated box of FRP
material with the top cover (0.004m thick) made from a material with high transmittance and thermal
conductance (glass) inclined at 30
o
. There are three main areas of a simple solar still including: the insulated
sides, the absorptive basin to hold seawater, and the cover. The sides of the container are insulated to decrease
heat loss from the brine solution through the sides of the apparatus. The basin serves two functions: to hold the
seawater and to absorb light energy passing through the seawater before it is lost to the environment. To
maximize absorption, the sides and bottom of the container are painted black. The cover is also multipurpose
it seals the system from any mass transport to the system surroundings, while still allowing energy in the form
of direct thermal isolation to enter. It also serves as the condensation surface to collect the freshwater output.
The collection of thermal radiation inside the device will cause the interior temperature to increase causing an
increase in the vapour pressure of water in the solution. When the hot water vapour travel upward and get
condensed at the relatively cool cover and with help from gravity, rolls down the inclined plane to be collected
in a trough.
Shiv Kumar et al / VSRD International Journal of Mechanical, Auto. & Prod. Engg. Vol. 2 (6), 2012
225

Fig. 1 (a) : Photograph of a Passive Solar Still
In hybrid (PVT) active solar still (Fig. 1b) two flat plate collectors connected in series are integrated to the basin
of solar still by using insulated pipes. Each collector has an effective area of 2 m
2
. The whole absorber and glass
cover is encased in an aluminum metallic box with 0.1 m thick glass wool insulation at base and sides to reduce
thermal losses. A 0.004m toughened glasses is fixed on the top of the box using aluminum frame and screw.
The electrical power needed to operate the DC pump is provided by photovoltaic glass to glass module of area
0.55 1.20 m
2
(75 W
p
) integrated with one of the collector at lower, thus rendering the entire system operable by
solar energy for application in the remote rural areas where electrical energy is usually not available. The some
part of DC power generated (P
m
) by PV module is used (P
u
) to operate the water pump. The excess generated
power (P
net
) can be utilized for other purposes.

Fig. 1 (b) : Photograph of a Hybrid (PVT) Active Solar Still
Shiv Kumar et al / VSRD International Journal of Mechanical, Auto. & Prod. Engg. Vol. 2 (6), 2012
226
In order to measure the temperature at inlet, outlet and inside of the storage tank, the calibrated copper-
constantan thermocouples have been used and recorded using a digital temperature indicator having an accuracy
of 0.1
o
C on hourly basis. Hourly solar radiation on flat plate collectors have also been measured by using
solarimeter having an accuracy of 20 W/m
2
, manufactured in India by Central Electronics Ltd. The current and
voltage are measured by AC/DC digital clamp meter having an accuracy of 0.1 A and 0.1 V. A Calibrated
mercury thermometer of least count 1
o
C has been used to record the ambient air temperature.
Experimental measurements have been performed to evaluate the performance of the solar still under the field
conditions. During morning before starting the test the storage tank was filled with water. All the glass covers
were cleaned for the dust/dirt particles before/ during the experimentation. The tests started at 6:00 am and
continued till 6.00 am on next day on typical days for each month for 0.05m water depth in the basin. The
typical experimental parameters recorded during respective day for respective configuration of the system are
illustrated in Table 2a-b for series and parallel arrangements measured on 4 and 5 Oct 2010 respectively. These
values contain hourly data of solar intensity (using solarimeter), water temperatures at different locations (using
thermocouples), ambient temperature (using thermometer), temperature of cell (using laser gun), and open and
load parameters of PV module (using Tong meter).
Table 1 : Average Measured Parameters of Passive and Hybrid Solar Active Stills (0.05 m Water Depth)
Months Average
solar
radiation
(W/m
2
)
T
w,Average
(Hybrid
active)
o
C
T
w,Average
(Passive)
o
C
Daily yield
(Hybrid
active)
Kg
Daily yield
(Passive)
kg
Power
developed by
module
kWh/day
Average
ambient
temperature
o
C
Apr 494 40.4 32.1 7.22 2.26 0.413 24.1
May 483 43.7 33.2 5.91 1.756 0.385 24.3
Jun 402 42.4 39.3 4.115 1.767 0.377 30.1
Jul 279 38.8 35.7 1.956 0.825 0.269 30.2
Aug 461 41.7 36.3 3.275 1.038 0.371 30.6
Sep 499 41.3 33.5 5.247 1.594 0.389 25.9
Oct 389 41.7 32.4 5.378 1.423 0.39 27.5
Nov 400 30.2 23.2 3.376 0.775 0.345 19.3
Dec 401 23 14.7 3.193 0.606 0.343 12.5
Jan 470 24.5 14.4 4.249 0.784 0.407 11.1
Feb 410 30.7 21.8 3.508 0.81 0.426 18.8
Mar 567 32.5 30.1 5.887 1.604 0.512 22.8
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Experimental results for single slope passive and hybrid (PVT) active solar still for all months of the year 2006-
2007 have been summarized in Table 1. Average value of solar radiation is used on the basis of sunshine hours
of the typical days. The sunshine duration of 9.0 hours in summer and 7 hrs in winter has been taken into
account. The average temperature of the day (24hrs) has been found higher in hybrid (PVT) active solar still
about in the range of 8.0-10.0
o
C than the passive solar still. The daily yield is about 3.5 times higher in summer
and about 5.5 times in peak winter than the passive solar still. The power developed by the PV module is found
to maximum in the month of March (0.512 kWh/day) due to maximum solar intensity and low ambient
temperature (low cell temperature results) than the summer.
Fig. 2 shows the maximum value of water temperature and ambient temperature recorded during the year on
Shiv Kumar et al / VSRD International Journal of Mechanical, Auto. & Prod. Engg. Vol. 2 (6), 2012
227
typical days in summer and winter. This has been observed that maximum water temperature of the basin is a
function of ambient temperature and maximum for the month of maximum ambient temperature due to higher
solar radiation. This has been found that difference in maximum water temperature between two designs of the
solar stills is about 26
o
C in summer and 10
o
C in winter months respectively and averaged to 8-10
o
C daily bases.
The inconsistency in the results during the Jun.- Aug. is found due to unpredicted cloudy conditions during rainy
season of the year.

Fig. 2 : Maximum Water and Ambient Temperature Obtained During the Day in Different Months
Based on the experimental results and using the analytical relations (Appendix-A) the values of convective (h
cw
)
and evaporative (h
ew
) heat transfer coefficient has been estimated. The average value of the year is presented in
Fig. 3a-b for passive and hybrid active solar stills respectively. The maximum value of convective (1.6 W/m
2
K)
and evaporative (9.5 W/m
2
K) heat transfer coefficient is found in month of April (summer) and minimum 0.6
W/m
2
K and 1.8 W/m
2
K in January (winter) respectively.

Fig. 3 (a) : Average Value of Heat Transfer Coefficient of Passive Solar Still
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
A
p
r
M
a
y
J
u
n
J
u
l
A
u
g
S
e
p
O
c
t
N
o
v
D
e
c
J
a
n
F
e
b
M
a
r
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
o
C
)
Month
Tw,max (Hybrid active)
Tw,max (Passive)
Ta, max
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
A
v
e
r
a
g
e


h
e
a
t

t
r
a
n
s
f
e
r

c
o
e
f
f
i
c
e
n
t

(

W

/
m
2
K
)
Months
hcw hew
Shiv Kumar et al / VSRD International Journal of Mechanical, Auto. & Prod. Engg. Vol. 2 (6), 2012
228
Similar results have been obtained for hybrid (PVT) active solar still and found in the range of 1.3-1.8 W/m
2o
C
for convective and 7.0- 25.0 W/m
2o
C for evaporative heat transfer coefficients respectively. The higher value of
heat transfer coefficient in hybrid (PVT) active solar still is due to higher basin water temperature. This causes a
higher yield from the hybrid (PVT) active solar still than the passive solar still.

Fig. 3 (b) : Average Value of Heat Transfer Coefficient of Hybrid Active Solar Still
Fig. 4 shows the hourly variations of thermal efficiencies and electrical efficiency evaluated using the relation
given the Appendix. The thermal efficiency has been found to be maximum for passive solar still and is
maximum in the month of April with its value 28.4% and minimum in the month of 9.4% in December January
(winter). This has been found that the efficiency of the hybrid (PVT) active solar still is in the range of 9.1
19.1% and lower than the passive. This is due to higher thermal losses from active solar still because of higher
water temperature. Further the efficiency is found to be higher than passive during the peak winter. The
electrical efficiency of PV module is found to be in the range of 9.5 -12.4% and maximum in month of Feb.-
March. 2007. The overall thermal efficiency evaluated combining the equivalent thermal energy of PVT module
is found to be 41.2%.

Fig. 4 : Monthly Variation of Thermal and Electrical Efficiency of Passive and Active Solar Still
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Apr June Aug Nov Dec Feb
H
e
a
t

t
r
a
n
s
f
e
r

c
o
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
t

(
W
m
-
2
o
C
)
Months
hew hcw
hrw h1w
0
10
20
30
Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y
(
%
)
Month of the year
Thermal efficiency of passive solar still
Thermal efficiency of hybrid active solar still
Shiv Kumar et al / VSRD International Journal of Mechanical, Auto. & Prod. Engg. Vol. 2 (6), 2012
229
4. CONCLUSIONS
On the basis of above results and discussion, the following conclusions have been made :
- The higher yield of about 5.5 times is obtained from hybrid (PVT) active solar still than the passive solar
still during winter months.
- The average water temperature obtained from the hybrid (PVT) active solar still is higher in the range of 8-
10
o
C than the passive solar still.
- The thermal efficiency of passive solar still is higher than hybrid (PVT) active solar still during summer but
lower in winter months.
- The electrical efficiency of integrated PV module is found to be in the range of 9.5 -12.4%.
5. REFERENCES
[1] G.N. Tiwari and A. Tiwari (2007) Solar Distillation Practice for Water Desalination systems. first ed.,
Anamaya publications, New Delhi.
[2] E. Delyannis and V. Belessiotis (2010). Desalination: The recent development Path. Desalination, 264,
206213.
[3] M.A.S. Malik, G.N. Tiwari, A. Kumar and M.S. Sodha (19832). Solar Distillation.first ed.,
PergamonPress, Oxford.
[4] T.V. Arjunan, H.S. Aybar and N. Nedunchezhian (2009) Status of solar desalination in India. Renew.
Sustanable Energ. Rev., 13,24082418.
[5] G.N. Tiwari and A.K. Tiwari (2006). Effect of water depths on heat and mass transfer in a passive solar
still in summer climatic condition. Desalination, 195, 7894.
[6] R. Dev, S.A. Abdul-Wahab and G.N. Tiwari (2011). Performance studyof the inverted absorber solar still
with water depth and totaldissolved solid. Appl. Energ., 88, 252264.
[7] G.M. Zaki, A.M. Radhwan and A.O. Balbeidi (1993). Analysis of assisted coupled solar stills. Sol.
Energ., 51, 277288.
[8] C. Esteban, J. Franco and A. Fasulo (2005). A construction and performance of an assisted solar distiller.
Desalination, 173, 249255.
[9] S. Kumar and G.N. Tiwari (2009). Life cycle cost analysis of single slope hybrid (PV/T) active solar still.
Appl. Energ., 86, 19952004.
[10] V.K. Dwivedi and G.N. Tiwari (2010). Experimental validation of thermal model of a double slope active
solar still under natural circulation mode. Desalination, 250, 4955.
[11] Y.F. Nassar, S.A. Yousif and A.A. Salem (2007). The second generation of the solar desalination systems.
Desalination, 209, 177181.
[12] T. Fujisawa and T. Tani (1997). Annual exergy evaluation on photovoltaic-thermal hybrid collector. Solar
Energy Material and Solar Cell, 47, Nos. 14, 135148.
[13] R.V. Dunkle (1961) Solar water distillation: The roof type still and a multiple effect diffusion still. Int.
Develop. Heat Transfer, ASME Proc. 5, 895902.
[14] G.N. Tiwari (2002). Solar Energy: Fundamentals, Design, Modelling and Applications.Narosa Publishing
House, New Delhi/CRC publication, New York.
Shiv Kumar et al / VSRD International Journal of Mechanical, Auto. & Prod. Engg. Vol. 2 (6), 2012
230
Appendix A
Dunkle [13] proposed a model to evaluate the convective and evaporative heat transfer coefficients that can be
given as
| |
1/ 3
0.884
cw
h T' = A [A1]
where,
3
( )( 273.15)
268.9 10
w gi w
w gi
w
P P T
T T T
P
+
' A = +


and 0.0163
w gi
ew cw
w gi
P P
h h
T T

[A2]
Radiative heat transfer coefficient between water and glass cover :
( ) ( )
2 2
( 273.15) ( 273.15) 546.30
rw eff w gi w gi
h T T T T = + + + + +
[A3]
Total upward internal heat transfer coefficient (
1w
h ) can be written as :
1w rw cw ew
h h h h = + + [A4]
Daily energy efficiency of passive solar still is expressed as [14] :
( )
24
1
,
24
1
100
3600
ew
t
i Passive
s g
t
m L
I t A
=
=

[A5]
The daily energy efficiency of hybrid (PVT) active solar still (whole system) can

be evaluated as :
( ) ( )
24
1
,
24
1
100
[ ] 3600
ew
t
hybrid system
s g c
t
m L
I t A I t A

=
=

=
+

[A6]
Where A = (A
c
+ A
m
)
Daily electrical efficiency of PV module :
Shiv Kumar et al / VSRD International Journal of Mechanical, Auto. & Prod. Engg. Vol. 2 (6), 2012
231
( )
24
1
24
1
100
m
t
elect
s m
t
FF P
I t A
=
=

[A7]
Nomenclature
A
C
Area of flat plate collector, (m
2
)
A
g
Area of solar still glass/condensing cover, (m
2
)
A
m
Area of PV module, (m
2
)
h
cw
Convective heat transfer coefficient from water to condensing cover, (W/m
2
K)
h
ew
Evaporative heat transfer coefficient from water to condensing cover, (W/m
2
K)
h
1w
Total internal heat transfer coefficient, (W/m
2
K)
I
s
(t) Incident solar intensity on glass of solar still, (W/m
2
)
I
c
(t) Incident solar intensity on collector plates still, (W/m
2
)
L Latent heat of vaporization of water, (J/kg)
ew
m
Hourly distillate yield, (kg)
p
w
Partial pressure of vapour (N/m
2
)
2P
m
Power developed by PV module (W)
t Time, (s)
T
a
Ambient air temperature, (C)
T
gi
Inside condensing cover temperature, (C)
T
w
Average Water temperature, (C)

Emissivity of glass
Efficiency
eff Effective
FF Fill Factor