Comparative Study of Solar Still with Low-Cost Energy Storage Materials: Energy and Exergy Study

The current experimental research compares the performances of Solar Still (SS) with and without black-painted clay balls at Erode, India. From the investigations, it was found that an energy storage material augments the evening output. Furthermore, energy and exergy efficiencies of the SS, SS with clay balls, and SS with Black-Painted clay balls (SS with BP-clay balls) were calculated to determine the stills’ performance. The distilled water output of 1.95, 2.8, and 3.43 kg was obtained from the SS, SS with clay balls, and SS with BP-clay balls, separately. The calculated energy efficiency of the SS with BP-clay balls is 19.7%, the SS with clay balls is 17%, and the SS is 14%. Also, the exergy efficiency of the SS with BP-clay balls is 1.45%, the SS with clay balls is 1.1%, and the SS is 0.86%. The distilled water output from the SS with BP-clay balls was increased by 43.2% than the SS. Experimentation proved that the use of BP-clay balls improved the performance of the SS during the evening time.