Experimental study on the inclined solar still with single-axis solar tracking: thermo-economic approach

The solar-energy sector is growing fast and expected to continue. Inclined solar still (ISS) is one of the promising techniques used in the solar desalination field. Adding a single-axis solar tracking system to the ISS will increase its yield and efficiency. Consequently, the total device cost will be increased. Does it worth? To answer this question, an experimental investigation of the ISS without and with a single-axis solar tracking system was conducted and evaluated. Thermo-economic analysis was developed and evaluated. Results showed that adding a single-axis solar tracking to the inclined solar still increased its productivity and efficiency by 26% and 25.4%, respectively, with an increase in the system total cost by 39.2%. The payback period of the extra cost due to adding the solar tracking system is estimated in the range between 0.9 and 1.1 years. Thus, using a solar tracking for inclined solar still is thermally and economically beneficial due to the increase of the device performance and the reduction of the required land area by almost 26% to produce the same freshwater amount which means a lot of money-saving.