Inherent configuration characteristics altering the distillate enhancement of passive stepped solar still: A review

Augmenting the productivity of fresh water with minimum environmental impact is a challenging task for the researchers across the globe. Solar desalination is an environment-friendly approach with minimum CO2 emissions. Researchers have investigated the influence of different design and operating variables to enhance the distillate productivity using passive type stepped solar stills. The stepped solar stills were similar in shape and size compared to the conventional solar still and had increased distillate output. The influence of cavity volume space, the depth of water and surface area of absorber in contact with the saline water on the distillate output is discussed in this paper. Most researchers proved the fact that stepped stills had higher productivity compared to conventional stills. In this review an attempt is made to discuss the different design and operating parameters influencing the productivity of stepped still.