Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35

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Solar Energy
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Efficiency improvement of vertical solar stills – A review

Mohammadreza Abbaspour a, Abas Ramiar b, *, Qadir Esmaili c
a
Mechanical Engineering Department, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol, Iran
b
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Microfluidics and MEMS Lab, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol, Iran
c
Mechanical Engineering Department, Amol University of Special Modern Technologies, Amol, Iran

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Freshwater scarcity has become a significant problem for people around the world nowadays. Different desali­
Desalination nation methods such as RO, MED and MSF have been used for producing fresh and healthy water. Solar still is
Vertical solar still one of the easiest and least expensive methods to produce freshwater by solar energy. In general, the efficiency of
Productivity
conventional solar still is low, and for this purpose, different types of solar stills have been designed and built to
Multi-effect solar still
overcome this drawback, one of which is the vertical solar still (VSS). This type of solar still has a high production
capacity. The maximum amount of production obtained with this type of device in recent years is between 4.88
(m2Kgday) for single effect and 5.78 Lm− 2 h− 1
for multi-effect solar still. In this paper, methods used in the literature
to improve vertical solar still efficiency are reviewed. The improvement methods are categorized based on the
four major sections in vertical solar still: absorption, evaporation, condensation, and latent heat recovery. Novel
modifications examined in each section are analyzed and their effect on the efficiency of the device is discussed,
such as using materials with high absorption coefficient and optimizing the dimensions of the device, and finding
the most suitable dimensions for different radiation fluxes.

1. Introduction phase, such as thermal and crystallization methods.

More than 70% of the earth is covered by water, of which about 97%
is saline, and 3% is freshwater. This amount of freshwater cannot meet
the needs of all people in the world, so about 80 countries in the world in
recent years with a significant increase in demand for freshwater are
exposed to severe shortages of freshwater (He et al., 2011). On the other
hand, Many freshwater sources are also contaminated, and more than
700 million people suffer from contaminated freshwater (Abrantes et al.,
2010; Kundzewicz et al., 2008; Sivakumar, 2011). Several methods have
been proposed for desalination of saline water, but, as shown in (Fig. 1)
of view, all available methods for desalination of saline water can be
divided into two categories single phase and phase change in The
methods of first category phase change does not occur, and the mem­
brane is used to produce fresh water, such as RO (Reverse osmosis) (Oh
et al., 2009), ED (Electro dialysis) (Al-Amshawee et al., 2020), In the
second category methods such as MSF (Multi-stage flash distillation)
(Darawsheh et al., 2019), MED (Multiple-effect distillation) (Mabrouk
and Fath, 2015), SS (Solar still) (Sivakumar and Sundaram, 2013), Hy­
drate crystallization (Park et al., 2011) and Freezing phase (Lu et al.,
2019), change occur. Different approaches are used to change the fluid
Thermal methods are the first desalination techniques introduced
and used for freshwater production. The basis of the thermal methods is
the phase change phenomenon. First, salt water is heated to evaporate,
then the produced steam is condensed, and fresh water is obtained. This
method requires a lot of thermal energy, which can be obtained by fuel
or renewable energy. These methods are primarily used in countries
with energy sources from fossil fuels. However, using fossil fuels causes
air pollution (Gude et al., 2010). At the same time, many countries do
not have access to these resources. As a remedy, renewable energies such
as solar energy can be used as clean and cheap energy, evaporating the
brine in the thermal method. In this decade, solar still has been used to
produce pure and healthy water in many areas where there is no access
to fresh and healthy water, but saline water is available (Sharshir et al.,
2019).
Nevertheless, one of the disadvantages of all solar still types is their
low efficiency. In general, the factors affecting solar still performance
can be divided into four parts: absorber, evaporation, condensation, and
latent heat recovery parts (Wang et al., 2019). Fig. 2 shows the different
methods used in the literature for improving the performance of solar
still.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: aramiar@nit.ac.ir (A. Ramiar).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2022.02.027
Received 24 September 2021; Received in revised form 10 February 2022; Accepted 13 February 2022
Available online 23 February 2022
0038-092X/© 2022 International Solar Energy Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Abbaspour et al. Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35

water in multi-effect solar still and connecting several types of solar stills
MSF to each other (Wang et al., 2019). For recovering the latent heat in a
multi-effect solar still, the solar still partitions can be placed vertically or
Thermal MED horizontally next to each other.
As shown in (Fig. 3), in all multi-effect solar still, vertical solar still
(VSS) or tilted solar still, partitions are placed next to each other. Each
phase Solar still
partition collects its pure water separately. Fig. 3 shows a schematic of a
change multi-effect solar still whose partitions are located next to each other
Hydration
(Huang et al., 2015).
Crystallization The sun’s radiation first hits the absorber plate and is absorbed by it.
desalination Freezing As the absorber temperature increases, the saline water in the cloth
techniques evaporates, and the generated steam collides to the front plate and
Revers condenses, causing the temperature of the condenser plate to rise. This
osmos heat is used to evaporate the saline water in the cloth of the next
partition.
single In multi-effect solar still that the partitions are placed vertically next
Filtration Elctro dialisis
phase
to each other, several single-slope or double-slope solar stills are
Nano commonly used. Each partition collects its own pure water separately.
filtration This type of multi-effect occupies more space than horizontal multi-
effect solar still be. To solve this problem, some researchers used
Fig. 1. Classification of methods for water desalination. diffusion solar stills, which can be placed vertically next to each other by
changing the device’s material and using hydrophilic plates and mem­
Many researchers have studied the improvement of solar energy branes instead of the cotton wick. Fig. 4 shows multi-effect solar still
absorption process, such as creating artificial solar absorbers like Au- with partitions located above each other (Kaviti et al., 2016; Chiavazzo
plasmonic, which has an absorption coefficient of 99% (Wang et al., et al., 2018).
2019). In general, artificial solar absorbers absorb more radiation than Vertical solar still has many advantages in comparison with typical
natural materials such as black paint, which has an absorption coeffi­ solar stills. Vertical solar still occupies little space and can even be
cient of 82% (Senthil et al., 2021). However, the most crucial problem installed on the walls of a building. As a result, nowadays, these types of
with these materials is their high cost.
To increase the rate of water evaporation, changing several param­
eters have been proposed, such as fluid properties (Sahota and Tiwari,
2016; Bait, 2020; Bait and Si-Ameur M., 2018), the geometry of the
device (Omara et al., 2015; Bait and Si-Ameur M., 2016; Bait, 2019), and
the saline water ratio (Tiwari and Tiwari, 2006). Some researchers
focused on finding ways to increase the condensation rate in solar still.
The best way to increase the condensation rate is to change the prop­
erties of the surface (Bhardwaj et al., 2013), also cooling the condenser
plate by methods such as TEC (Thermoelectric cooler) (Rahbar et al.,
2016), and increasing wind speed on the condenser plate (Rahbar et al.,
2016; El-Sebaii, 2011).
One of the most important ways to increase the performance of solar
still, which has become attractive nowadays, is to reuse the latent heat of
the condensate (Wang et al., 2019). The parameter that indicates the
thermal distillation efficiency is GOR (Gained Output Ratio) that is
defined as (Burgess and Lovegrove, 2005):

GOR = Δhevap ṁproduct /Q̇input (1)

Different heat recovery methods have been used so far to increase

this parameter, such as reusing condensed heat to evaporate the salt Fig. 3. Schematic of multi-effect solar still (Huang et al., 2015).

Solar still improving

methods

Latent heat
Absorber Evaporation Condensation
recovery

Material Solar Fluid Multi Combined

Geometry Feed ratio Wind TEC
absorber absorber property effect system

Fig. 2. Methods to improve the performance of solar still.

20
M. Abbaspour et al.
Fig. 4. Multi-effect solar still with the partitions placed vertically next to each other.
solar still devices have become the primary focus of researchers due to
their simplicity and high production potential (Kaushal, 2010). So,
many methods have been proposed to increase the efficiency of vertical
solar stills. This article has tried to categorize the ways of increasing
desalination performance in this type of solar still. Different papers
considering the effect of evaporation, density, adsorbent, and GOR
related parameters on the performance of this type of solar still are
reviewed.
2. Vertical solar still (VSS)
The vertical solar still consists of a series of parallel plates: glass
cover, absorber plat, capillary wick and condenser plat. First, the solar
radiation is absorbed in the first plate (absorber plate) after being
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Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35
transmitted through the glass cover. For absorbing more solar energy at
the first plate, it should be painted black. The wick attached to the back
of the first plate (absorber) receives saline water from the tank above it
and transfers it by capillary force. The wick receives heat from the
absorber plate and evaporates some saline water. The vapor formed is
then spread in the space between the two plates and condensed after
hitting the next plate (condenser plat). Fresh water droplets formed are
transported by gravity to the bottom of the plate and collected (Raja­
seenivasan et al., 2013). Fig. 5 shows 3D and 2D schematics of vertical
solar still and also different sections of it.
3. Experimental studies
In this section, experimental works dedicated to the improvement of
M. Abbaspour et al. Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35

Feed water tank Capillary Wick

Absorber

Product fresh water

Glass Condenser
Absorber
Capillary Wick Glass
Evaporation section
Condenser
(a)
Partition (c)

Glass Wick

Absorber Condenser

Diffusions Gap

(b) (d)

Fig. 5. Schematic of (a) 3D vertical solar still (b) 2D vertical solar still (c) various sections on vertical solar still (d) Heat recovery in vertical solar still.

water production or overall performance of the VSS are reviewed. Pa­

pers are categorized based on the utilized method for improving the
performance of the VSS.

3.1. Absorption

Having materials with high absorption coefficient can play an

important role in increasing the surface temperature absorber as well as
the rate of evaporation in solar still. Akash et al. (1998), used different
absorbing materials for solar still. They concluded that black color is the
best absorbing material used in the basin solar still to increase water
productivity. Panchal and Shah (2016), built two solar stills consisting
of different absorption plate materials. They found from the experi­
mental test that basin solar still with plate increases distillate output
compared to Galvanized Iron plates. Gugulothu et al. (2015) performed
experimental research on evaluating the performance of a solar still
using different absorbing materials.
There are no specific studies on the effect of absorption on the per­
formance of vertical solar still. In most studies, Aluminum has been used
as the absorber material of vertical solar still (Tanaka and Nakatake, Fig. 6. Spiral multi-effect solar still (Huang et al., 2020).
2004; Tanaka et al., 2002; Tanaka et al., 2000; Tanaka, 2009; Tanaka,
2016; Tanaka and Iishi, 2017; Kaushal et al., 2017). Huang et al. (2020),
results of copper and Aluminum absorption plates is not reported in the
used different designs for building vertical solar still. The solar thermal
work.
concentrator diameter was 150 (mm), also they used spiral copper for
Table 1 summarizes the research conducted in the absorption section
each partition. They studied the effect of number of partitions and the
of vertical solar still introduced previously to increase the device’s
intensity of the sun on the productivity of solar still, and produced 2.2
performance.
Kg
m2 h
fresh water with 6 partitions (Fig. 6). Comparison between the

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M. Abbaspour et al. Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35

Table 1
Papers devoted to improving absorption section of vertical solar still.
Article Number of Dimensions Diffusions Gap Productivity Mechanism
partitions (m) (mm) Kg
( 2 )
m day
Absorption Evaporation Condensation Latent heat recovery
(GOR)

6 0.3 × 0.01 – Kg ✔ ✔ ✔
Huang et al. 2.2
m2 h
(2020)

3.2. Condensation
A higher evaporation rate cannot solely enhance the water produc­
tion rate in solar stills, because the produced vapor should be converted
to liquid in the condenser plate which was the subject of different studies
in the field. Kiatsiriroat et al. (1987); constructed a vertical solar still and
examined 1,3,5 number of partitions. They concluded that the maximum
amount of fresh water production per number of partitions is obtained
when the last plate is covered with wetted cloth, making the condenser
plate colder and increasing the condensation rate. Also, they achieved
the maximum water production of 6 (mKg 2 day), by using 5 partitions. Xu
et al. (2020), used hydrophobic coating on condenser plate and allowed
the condensed droplets to be easily removed by gravity. They achieved
the best performance of vertical solar stills with hydrophobic coating on
condenser plate and produced 5.78 Lm− 2 h− 1 with 10 partitions of ver­
tical solar still.
Some researchers focused on improving the condenser section
design, such as using hydrophilic layers in horizontal multi-effect solar
still. Chiavazzo et al. (2018) used 10 diffusion solar stills which could be
placed vertically next to each other. They used hydrophobic membrane
and hydrophilic layer for evaporation and condensation plate by which
they could produce 3 Lm− 2 h− 1 . Xue et al. (2018), build a solar still
similar to that of Chiavazzo et al. (2018), and used fins on the condenser
plate to increase the thermal conduction and heat transfer. They pro­
duced 3.67 mKg 2 day with 2 partitions. The more heat transfer in the
condenser plate, the more water yield of the distiller was produced.
Table 2 summarizes the research conducted on the condensation
section of vertical solar still to increase the device’s performance.
3.3. GOR
As mentioned previously, one of the most important parameters in
increasing the performance of solar still is the GOR. This section de­
scribes all the articles that were devoted to improving the performance
of vertical solar still using the GOR parameter.
3.3.1. Distance between plates
One of the most critical parameters that affect the amount of pure
water produced is the distance between the plates. The efficiency of the
device can be affected by changing the distance between the plates.
Reducing the distance between the plates increases the production rate
of freshwater. The reason can be explained by considering the thermal
resistance of vapor in the gap between the plates. Decreasing the gap
causes the thermal resistance to reduce, leading to higher temperatures
for the next plate and higher water production. In the inclined or basin
type stills the small gap between the evaporating and condensing sur­
faces can cause distillate contamination by the incoming water saline.
But conversely, in the multiple effect vertical solar stills it will not
happen even for tiny gaps, making the multiple effect vertical stills more
compact and reliable (Tanaka et al., 2000). Tanaka et al. (2002), con­
nected 8 partitions of vertical solar still with dimensions of 1.1 × 3 m2
to a basin solar still and examined 5 mm and 10 mm gap between the
partitions. They reported a decrease in productivity by increasing the
gap. Also by connecting 10 partitions of vertical solar still in dimensions
of 1 × 2 m2 to a solar collector and examining the distance between the
partitions, Tanaka and Nakatake (2004), reported a decrease of about
15% in the daily productivity by increasing the distance between the
plates from 3 mm to 5 mm. The maximum productivity was 21.8 when
the distance between the plates was 3 mm. Tanaka (2017), coupled
tilted wick solar still with vertical solar still and suggested that the
distance between the plates should be reduced to increase the efficiency
of the device. However, the shorter the distance between the plates, the
more likely it is that the cloth will connect to the condenser plate. They
reported that the best distance between the hot plate and cold plate is 5
mm. Fig. 7 shows the effect of distance between plates on the produced
pure water. They reported that the distance could be reduced to less than
5 mm, but the shorter the distance, the greater the chance that the wick
be connected to the condenser plate.
3.3.2. Number of plates
One way to increase water productivity is to increase the number of
partitions to reuse latent heat for the next partition. The amount of
freshwater produced increases with increasing the number of partitions,
but on the other hand, rises the thermal resistance. For fewer partitions
considerable amount of thermal energy is wasted. Also since the average
temperature of the plates decreases by increasing number of plates, it is
advisable to reduce the amount of feeding saline water for the end

Table 2
Papers devoted to improving condensation section of vertical solar still.
Article Number of Dimensions Diffusions Gap Productivity Mechanism
partitions (m) (mm) Kg
( 2 )
m day
Absorption Evaporation Condensation Latent heat recovery
(GOR)

1-3-5 1.52 × 0.9 – 1-6 ✔ ✔ ✔

Kiatsiriroat et al.
(1987)
2 – – 3.67 ✔ ✔ ✔
Xue et al. (2018)
10 0.12 × 0.12 1 Kg ✔ ✔ ✔
Chiavazzo et al. 3
m2 h
(2018)
10 0.1 × 0.1 5 Kg ✔ ✔
Xu et al. (2020) 5.78
m2 h

23
M. Abbaspour et al.
Fig. 7. Effect of distance between plates on the daily water production
(Tanaka, 2017).
partitions to achieve higher performance. Nosoko et al. (2005), jointed
19 partitions of vertical solar still with dimensions of 1 × 2 m2 . They
reported that the number of partitions in vertical solar still is of the main
design parameters. Increasing the number of partitions causes the
thermal resistance through the series of plates to grow up and signifi­
cantly reduces the COP and production rate. COP is defined as the ratio
of the total heat of evaporation to the enthalpy input of the heating
steam. Tanaka (2017), examined a vertical solar still with 2 to 15 par­
titions and concluded that the best number of partitions is 10. Fig. 8
shows the effect of the number of partitions.
Table 3 summarizes the research conducted in the GOR section of
vertical solar still to increase the device’s performance
3.4. Evaporation
To perform the evaporation process, a cloth is attached to the back of
the absorber plate. The cloth sucks the saline water by the capillary force
Fig. 8. Effect of number of partitions on the produced water (Tanaka, 2017).
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Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35
and gravity and simultaneously absorbs the heat of the absorber plate.
Some of the saline water moving inside the cloth evaporates by the
absorbed heat on the absorber plate, and the rest of the saline water exits
to the outside of the device. In the evaporation section of the device, the
details of the cloth, the gravity force, the temperature of the inlet saline
water and the temperature of the absorber plate are some of the most
effective parameters.
3.4.1. Feed water
The amount of saline water entering the vertical solar still is an
important parameter for improving the evaporation section. Increasing
the amount of saline water entering the cloth, rises the amount of saline
water leaving the cloth without evaporation. This fact causes thermal
energy loss and reduces the device’s efficiency. On the other hand,
reducing the saline water entering the device creates dry stains in the
cloth due to the lack of water. Tanaka et al. (2000); were able to produce
15.4 mkg2 d of freshwater by 10-partitions vertical solar still and concluded
that the best feed ratio should be 1.83 times the evaporation rate. Also,
Tanak et al. (2005), showed that productivity could be increased by
decreasing feed water. In another work, Tanaka (2017); parametrically
investigated the effect of feed ratio in vertical solar still and concluded
that the best feed ratio should be two times the evaporation rate. He also
reported that increasing feed saline water will lead to lower productivity
due to the higher heat of evaporation needed.
3.4.2. Gravity
Saline water can be sucked by the cloth from two directions, above or
below. When brackish water is sucked from above, the direction of
gravity force is co-aligned with the capillary force and intensifies the
suction process, so, all parts of the cloth are wetted. But conversely,
when the saline water is sucked from the blow, direction of gravity force
is counter-aligned with capillary force and weakens the suction process,
leading some dry parts in the cloth. Al-Ameri et al. (2019); performed
experiments on a VSS (Fig. 9) and concluded that the device’s efficiency
is higher when supplying brackish water from above, because it keeps
the wick fully saturated all the time. Table 4 compares the amount of
water productivity when brackish water is supplied from above or
below. As seen, in all cases supplying from above leads to higher water
production.
3.4.3. Parameters of the wick
One of the essential components of the evaporation section in ver­
tical solar still is the cloth. The role of the cloth is to move saline water
by capillary force and receive heat from the absorber plate, making
saline water evaporate. To choose the most suitable cloth, parameters
such as porosity, material, and color should be carefully considered.
Murugavel and Srithar (2011); by examining different types of wicks
in the basin solar still apparatus, concluded that the type of wick
significantly affects its performance. They studied pieces of different
materials such as cotton waste, jute, cloth, etc., and found that the best
wick material is the cotton because it has a higher thermal conductivity
coefficient and porosity than other wicks. Fig. 10 shows different types
of cloth tested by Murugavel and Srithar (2011). Abdullah et al. (2021),
by studying various colors of wicks in different types of a solar still,
concluded that the best wick to increase the performance of solar still is
black cotton because black color can absorb more radiation due to its
higher absorption coefficient.
Table 5 summarizes the research conducted in the evaporation sec­
tion of vertical solar still to increase the device’s performance
3.5. Multiple-effect vertical solar still coupled with other devices
Some researchers have combined the VSS with other devices to
improve the performance of vertical solar still. These works are mainly
focused on improving both the GOR and evaporation sections. In the
M. Abbaspour et al. Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35

Table 3
Papers devoted to improving the GOR section of vertical solar still.
Article Number of Dimensions Diffusions Gap Productivity Mechanism
partitions (m) (mm) Kg
( 2 )
m day
Absorption Evaporation Condensation Latent heat
recovery(GOR)

10 0.4 × 0.6 5 15.4 ✔ ✔

Tanaka et al. (2000)
13 1.05 × 1.58 5 Autumn (19) Winter ✔ ✔
Tanaka et al. (2000)
(14)
6–8-11 1.1 × 3 5,10 14.8–18.7 ✔ ✔
Tanaka et al. (2002)
10 2× 1 3–5 17–21.8 ✔ ✔
Tanaka and Nakatake
(2004)
19 1× 2 5 26.4 ✔ ✔
Nosoko et al. (2005)
10 1× 1 5 15.9–19.2 ✔ ✔
Tanaka (2016)
2–15 1× 1 2–15 12–24.8 ✔ ✔
Tanaka (2017)

between the partitions. The highest water production was for 11 parti­
tions at a distance of 5 mm (Fig. 11).
Kaushal et al. (2017), were able to enhance the GOR by connecting a
basin solar still to a 7-effect vertical solar still. Each partition were
1.52 × 0.68 m2 and dimensions of basin solar still was 1.5 × 0.77 m2 .
They used heat exchanger for heating feed water. They could increase
the performance 21% higher than the case without the heat exchanger.
Tanaka et al. (2000), coupled multiple-effect vertical solar still with
13 partitions to a basin solar still and examined it at four seasons. The
highest productivity obtained was 19 (m2Kgday) in autumn. Kaushal et al.
(2016), increased the performance of multiple-effect vertical solar still
10 to 15% by coupling it with a basin solar still. The overall improve­
ment in the performance of the device was 21% by using the heat
exchanger for heating feed water (Kaushal et al., 2017).
Another solar still that has been used in combination with the ver­
Fig. 9. Schematic diagram of setup test (Al-Ameri et al., 2019). tical solar still was tilted wick. Tanaka (2017), coupled tilted wick solar
still with a vertical solar still to increase GOR, evaporation and water
production. He studied the effect of the number of partitions and the
Table 4 distance between the plates. Dimensions of each partition was 1 × 1 m2 .
Comparison of the amount of water productivity for two directions of supplying He concluded that by connecting a tilted wick solar still to the vertical
brackish water (Al-Ameri et al., 2019).
solar still, reducing partition gap, and increasing the number of parti­
Supplied power value (W) 30 50 70 90 110 tions, the amount of freshwater produced could be increased. Fig. 12
(W) (W) (W) (W) (W)
shows the device examined by Tanaka (2017).
Supplying brackish water from 90.2 173.1 311.5 464.6 664.4 In another work, Tanaka and Iishi (2017); combined the single-effect
ml vertical solar still with a tilted wick (TW) solar still, under laboratory
below ( 2 )
m
Supplying brackish water from 96.9 227.3 374.3 552.1 717.9 conditions to investigate whether natural convection can transfer steam
ml from TW to the vertical solar still or not. It was found that vertical solar
above ( 2 )
m still can be heated uniformly by the produced steam simultaneously
from TW and absorbed solar radiation. Tanaka (2016), combined a 10
following, this category of papers will be reviewed. partitions VSS with TW and examined it at three seasons. The highest
productivity of 19.2 (m2Kgday) was achieved in spring.
3.5.1. Multiple-effect vertical solar still coupled with other solar stills
One way to improve the GOR in vertical solar still is to connect it to 3.5.2. Multiple-effect vertical solar still coupled with a collector
other type of solar still. In this method, by connecting different solar Another way to improve the evaporation in the VSS is to increase the
stills to the beginning of the vertical solar still, the vapor produced (by incoming thermal energy by devices such as solar collectors and transfer
the solar still) condenses on the first plate (absorber plate) of vertical their heat to the absorber plate by the interface fluid. Kiatsiriroat et al.
solar still, leading to an increase in the temperature of the absorber (1987) used a flat plate solar collector besides the multiple effect vertical
plate. Majority of researches in this field, has coupled multiple-effect solar still. Dimensions of each partition were 1.52 × 0.9 m2 and the first
vertical solar still with the basin solar still. Tanaka et al. (2002), plate of vertical still were heated by hot water from the solar collector.
coupled a multiple-effect vertical solar still with 6, 8, and 11 number of They used 1, 3, 5 partitions and the last plate was covered with a wetted
partitions to a basin solar still. The dimensions of each partition was cloth. They concluded that the highest amount of water production
1.10 × 3 m2 , area of the basin was 1.5 × 3 m2 and the gap between the occurs when five partitions are used and the wetted cloth is used on the
plates was 5 and 10 mm. They concluded that the increasing amount of last plate (Fig. 13). Huang et al. (2014), constructed a multiple-effect
water production occurs when they coupled basin solar still with vertical vertical solar still with 10 and 20 partitions and connected it to the
solar still, increased the number of partitions, and reduced the gap vacuum tube solar collector. They found that the device’s performance

25
M. Abbaspour et al. Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35

Fig. 10. Different types of wick (Kalidasa Murugavel and Srithar, 2011).

Table 5
Papers devoted to improving the evaporation section of vertical solar still.
Article Number of Dimensions Diffusions Gap Productivity Mechanism
partitions (m) (mm) Kg
( 2 )
m day
Absorption Evaporation Condensation Latent heat recovery
(GOR)

1 0.817m2 – 2.75 ✔
Boukar and Harmim
(2004)
1 0.817m2 – 1.31 ✔
Boukar and Harmim
(2005)
1 0.294 × 0.329 10 4.39 ✔
Tanaka and Nakatake
(2007)
1 0.49 × 0.47 10 Kg ✔
Tanaka (2016) 0.75
m2
1 0.58 × 0.58 10 4.88 ✔
Tanaka and Iishi
(2017)
1 – – 259
g ✔
Hou et al. (2018) m2 h
1 0.44 × 0.17 12 Kg ✔
Al-Ameri et al. (2019) 1.06 2 -0.013
m
1 2
1–10 (m ) 50–500 12.55 ✔
Sharon (2020)

can be 32% higher in the case of 20 partitions in comparison with 10
partitions. Fig. 14 shows the experimental setup used by Huang et al.
(2014).
Chong et al. (2014), connected a 18 partitions multiple-effect verti­
cal solar still to the Vacuum tube solar collector. They could achieve the
production rate of 25.9 (m2Kgday) freshwater. Tanaka et al. (2005), pro­
duced 0.15 (mg2 s) freshwater by combining a 5 partitions multiple-effect
vertical solar still with adding a heat pipe. Huang et al. (2015), used
spiral design to connect 14 partitions VSS with a heat pipe and produced
40.6 (m2Kgday) freshwater. Fig. 15 shows the experimental setup used by
Huang et al. (2015).
Hou et al. (2018), connected a single spiral solar still with a heat pipe
and produced 259 (mg2 h) freshwater.
Dhindsa and Mittal (2018), connected 4 partitions of vertical solar
still with a basin solar still. They also used a solar pond with a flat plate
top reflector and produced 9.38 (m2Kgday) freshwater. Dhindsa et al. (2021),
in another work, used the same design with 7 partitions of vertical solar
still and produced 12.75 (m2Kgday) freshwater.
3.5.3. Multiple-effect vertical solar still coupled with a flat plate reflector
One of the simplest ways to increase the radiation received by the
absorber plate and raise its temperature is to use a reflector. The water in
the cloth evaporates faster by increasing the temperature of the absorber
plate, causing an increase in the device’s efficiency and the amount of
produced freshwater. Tanaka (2009), experimentally investigated the
effect of reflector on the six-effect vertical solar still. The gap between
partitions were 5 mm and Dimensions of each partition were 0.294 ×
0.329 m2 . He reported that using a reflector can increase the produced
water more than a VSS coupled with basin solar still. He could produce
13.3(m2Kgday) by connecting 6 partitions of VSS to a reflector (Fig. 16).
Tanaka and Nakatake (2007), coupled a single vertical solar still with
a reflector. The gap between partitions was 10 mm and they could
produce 4.39 (m2Kgday) freshwater. In a different work, Tanaka and Naka­
take (2005), parametrically studied the effect of radiation on 10

26
M. Abbaspour et al.
Fig. 11. Schematic of multiple-effect vertical solar still coupled with basin
solar still (Tanaka et al., 2002).
Fig. 12. Schematic of vertical multiple-effect solar still coupled with tilted wick
still (Tanaka, 2017).
partitions of vertical solar still coupled with a reflector. They concluded
that the device could produce 34.5(m2Kgday) freshwater in indoor and 21.5
(m2Kgday) in outdoor (Tanaka and Nakatake, 2005). They (Tanaka and
Nakatake, 2007) also used the same design to examine the effect of angle
of reflector and founded the optimum angle to be 10◦ to the horizon.
They could produce 30 (m2Kgday) freshwater at 40 N latitude. In another
◦
research, they (Tanaka, 2018), studied the effect of area of the reflector.
The maximum production was 23.1 (m2Kgday) freshwater when the area of
reflector was larger than area of the vertical solar still.
3.5.4. Multiple-effect vertical solar still couple with reflector and basin solar
still
Some researchers combined several devices with the VSS to enhance
27
Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35
its performance. Yeo et al. (2019), constructed the vertical multiple-
effect solar still shown in Fig. 17. They connected the VSS to a single-
slope solar still to use the reflector and exhaust gas of the electric
generator inside the single-slope still. With this method, they could in­
crease the device’s performance significantly. The highest produced
water was 21.65(m2Kgday) when they used the exhaust gas of the electric
generator inside the single-slope. Tanaka (2013), could produce 30
(m2Kgday) freshwater by combining a multiple-effect vertical solar still with
a basin solar still using a flat plate bottom reflector.
Table 6 summarizes the researches in which the VSS is combined
with other devises. In other words, these researches are focused on
improving the GOR and evaporation section of vertical solar still to in­
crease its performance
4. Summary of experimental studies
As a summary of presented works in previous sections, Fig. 18 shows
a flow diagram of works, based on the section in which the research is
focused. Reference numbers are placed on the section that the work
mostly focused. As seen, most of the works are focused on the GOR and
evaporation sections and limited works exist in the field of condenser
and absorber sections.
Fig. 19 compares the amount of productivity obtained experimen­
tally by different researchers. Most of the researchers in the VSS field
focused on enhancing the GOR and evaporation section to improve
productivity. The highest value is 40.6 mL2 , achieved by Huang et al.
(2015), by designing and building a new spiral multiple-effect vertical
solar still coupled with vacuum-tube collector and heat pipe. Also, as
seen, one of the best methods for improving VSS at the same number of
partitions is coupling VSS with a reflector (Tanaka, 2009; Tanaka and
Nakatake, 2005), which could increase output more than VSS coupled
with basin solar still. Limited works were focused on the condensation
section, such as Kiatsiriroat et al. (1987).
As shown in Fig. 19, the curve shows the trend of the average pro­
ductivity against the number of partitions. Although the overall trend is
upward, the increase rate is weakening at a higher number of partitions.
This, may be attributable to the lower performance of end partitions due
to lower heat received. Based on the curve, when the number of parti­
tions increases to a value more than 15, the increase in freshwater
production becomes asymptomatic. So, it can somehow be concluded
that based on the experimental data in the literature, a number of par­
titions between 10 and 15 is more reasonable.
5. Numerical studies
In this section, modeling aspects of vertical solar still in the literature
will be reviewed. A few researchers have studied the vertical solar still
numerically. Most of the works were devoted to mathematically
modeling (steady or dynamic) different parts of this device using the
thermodynamic equations.
Some of the widely used boundary conditions for thermodynamics
modeling are: (Sharon et al., 2020)
1. Vertical solar still is leak-free and completely insulated (Elsayed,
1986).
2. Absorber, condenser plates, and wick are assumed to be so thin that
The temperature gradient in their thickness is ignored (Tanaka,
2016).
3. Saline water temperature is equal to the ambient temperature.
4. Conduction, radiation and evaporation heat transfer occurs between
the evaporating and condensing surface (Lim et al., 2018).
5. There is no vapor leakage in the still.
6. The temperature gradient in the glass cover and in the plates is
negligible (Yeo et al., 2019).
7. The condensation wall is nonwettable.
M. Abbaspour et al. Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35

Fig. 13. Schematic of the multiple-effect vertical solar still connected with flat plate solar collector (Kiatsiriroat et al., 1987).

Fig. 14. Experimental setup of a multiple-effect vertical solar still connected to the vacuum tube solar collector (Huang et al., 2014).

Fig. 15. Schematics of the spiral multiple-effect vertical solar still (Huang et al., 2015).

28
M. Abbaspour et al. Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35

Absorber/evaporator of single effect VSS:

dT g
(ρVc)g = Qs(ab) + Qf (1) − Qrd(g− a) − (Qcd + Qrd + Qev )(ab− c1) − Qb(1) (3)
dt
Evaporator of the 2nd diffusion chamber/ condenser of 1st diffusion
chamber:
dTc1
(ρVc)c1 =(Qcd +Qrd +Qev)(ab− c1) +Qf(2) +Qd(ab− c1) − (Qcd +Qrd +Qev )(c1− c2)
dt
− Qb(2) (4)

Evaporator of the nth diffusion chamber/ condenser of (n− 1)th

diffusion chamber:
dTc(n)
(ρVc)c(n) = (Qcd + Qrd + Qev )(c(n− 1)− c(n)) + Qf(c(n)) + Qd(c(n− 1)− c(n))
dt
− (Qcd + Qrd + Qev )(c(n)− cp) − Qb(c(n)) (5)

Where n = 2, 3, 4….
Condenser of the nth diffusion chamber:
dTcp
(ρVc)cp = (Qcd + Qrd + Qev )(c(n)− cp) + Qd(c(n)− cp) − Qc(cp− a) − Qrd(cp− a)
dt
(6)

Where, subscripts b, c, d, f, r and s are for heat energy content of reject

brine, convection heat transfer, sensible heat lost by distillate, heat en­
ergy content of feed water, radiation heat transfer and solar radiation
absorbed, respectively.
Reddy and Sharon (2016); used a mathematical model for optimizing
Fig. 16. Experimental setup of a VSS coupled with a reflector (Tanaka, 2009). the vertical solar still. They examined some parameters such as the
number of partitions, feed water salinity, and the gap between parti­
Although the basis of governing equations in all mathematical tions. Fig. 20 shows a schematic of multi-effect vertical solar still
models is similar, the notations are different. Transient energy equations considered. They increase the number of partitions to 10 and showed the
for all parts of the VSS (glass cover, absorber, evaporator, diffusion performance of the device can be increased by the number of partitions.
chamber, condenser) are solved to derive temperature distribution. They claimed 5 partitions as the best number of partitions, noting that
Finally, different efficiencies and productivity is calculated. Common by increasing the number of partitions from 5 to 10, the device’s per­
differences between the models are in calculating heat and mass transfer formance does not increase significantly. Although the recommended
coefficients. As an example, the principal equations used in Sharon et al. gap size between the partitions is 5 mm by Tanaka (2017), but they
(2020) will be presented here: considered a range of 0.1 m to 0.50 m. and showed a 5.12% reduction
They solved energy transport for different parts of the VSS, namely: with changing the gap from the lowest to the highest. They declared that
Glass cover: the decrease in the yield occurs because as the gap is raised, air space
increases which acts as a resistance for the movement of vapors from
dT g
(ρVc)g = Qs(g) + Qrd(ab− g) − Qc(g− a) − Qrd(g− a) (2) evaporating to condensing surface.
dt

Fig. 17. Schematics of experimental setup used by Yeo et al. (2019).

29
M. Abbaspour et al. Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35

Table 6
Papers devoted to improving the performance of vertical solar still by coupling it with other devices.
Article Number of Dimensions Diffusions Productivity Mechanism
partitions (m) Gap (mm) Kg
( 2 )
m day
Absorption Evaporation Condensation Evaporation Latent heat
recovery(GOR)

10 2× 1 3–5 17–21.8 ✔ ✔ ✔
Tanaka and
Nakatake (2004)
11 1× 1 5 12.7–20 ✔ ✔ ✔
Tanak et al. (2005)
10 – 10 29.2–34.5 ✔ ✔ ✔
Tanaka and
Nakatake (2005)
10 1× 1 5 21.5 ✔ ✔ ✔
Tanaka and
Nakatake (2005)
5 0.32 × 0.28 4.5 0.05–0.15
g ✔ ✔ ✔
Tanaka et al. m2 s
(2005)
1 0.294 × 10 4.39 ✔ ✔ ✔
Tanaka and
0.329
Nakatake (2007)
10 1× 1 5 30 ✔ ✔ ✔
Tanaka and
Nakatake (2007)
6 0.294 × 5 13.3 ✔ ✔ ✔
Tanaka (2009)
0.329
10 1m2 5 20 ✔ ✔ ✔
Tanaka and Park
(2010)
10 1.31m2 5 30 ✔ ✔ ✔
Tanaka (2013)
10 0.3 × 0.4 5 21.9 ✔ ✔ ✔
Huang et al.
(2014)
18 0.58 × 0.48 6 25.9 ✔ ✔ ✔
Chong et al. (2014)
3 0.13 × 1.47 5 Kg ✔ ✔ ✔
Chang et al. (2015) 1.162
m2 h
14 0.7 × 8.3 7 40.6 ✔ ✔ ✔
Huang et al.
(2015)
5 1× 1 50 21.29 ✔ ✔ ✔
Reddy and Sharon
(2016)
2 1.52 × 0.68 10 3.7 ✔ ✔ ✔
Kaushal et al.
(2016)
6 1.52 × 0.68 10–16 2–10.3 ✔ ✔ ✔
Kaushal et al.
(2017)
7 1.52 × 0.68 10 5.1 ✔ ✔ ✔
Kaushal et al.
(2017)
2–15 1× 1 2–15 12–24.8 ✔ ✔ ✔
Tanaka (2017)
10 1× 1 5 23.1 ✔ ✔ ✔
Tanaka (2018)
4 1.52 × 0.68 10 9.38 ✔ ✔ ✔
Dhindsa and Mittal
(2018)
11 2× 1 5 21.65 ✔ ✔ ✔
Yeo et al. (2019)
3 0.1 × 0.1 5 Kg ✔ ✔ ✔
Wang et al. (2019) 1.64
m2 h
5 0.5 × 0.5 100 4.9 ✔ ✔ ✔
Ghadamgahi et al.
(2020)
10 1× 1 3,6,9,12 11.3 ✔ ✔ ✔
Sharon et al.
(2020)
7 1.52 × 0.68 10 12.75 ✔ ✔ ✔
Dhindsa et al.
(2021)
4 0.8 m2 1–10 Summer (11.35) ✔ ✔ ✔
Boubekri et al.
Winter (7.05)
(2021)

30
M. Abbaspour et al.
Fig. 18. Flow diagram showing the research focus of reviewed papers.
They used a transient (dynamic) model to predict temperature dis­
tribution and distillate yield of each partition and also solar energy co­
efficient of performance and performance ratio of multi-effect vertical
solar still. For each partition they considered the effect of convection;
evaporation and radiation heat transfer from (n − 1)th effect to Nth ef­
fect partition, convection; evaporation and radiation heat transfer from
Nth effect to the ambient and Energy content of the rejected brine from
nth effect.
Sharon et al. (2020), used a transient 0D thermodynamic model to
study the GOR and absorber part of vertical solar still. They studied the
effect of the number of partitions in vertical solar still and investigated
parameters such as solar radiation, wind speed, diffusion gap, and
ambient temperature. They concluded that device productivity increases
with increasing ambient temperature and solar radiation. Also, they
improved the efficiency by increasing number of partitions and wind
speed. They showed that increasing wind speed can increase or decrease
yield depending it impacts on the condensation part surface or the glass
cover, respectively. Increasing diffusion gap in their work from 3 to 12
mm, resulted in 14.7% reduction in the yield. Also, when the ambient
temperature was increased by 10 ◦ C, the device’s performance increased
by 3% to 5%. Fig. 21 shows the schematic used by them for energy and
mass balance of multi-effect vertical solar still.
Sharon (2020), used thermal resistance model of distiller on single
vertical solar still (Fig. 22) and studied the impact of geometric pa­
rameters. He improved evaporation part of vertical solar still by feed
ratio of saline water and obtained proper diffusion gap. He concluded
that the highest freshwater production is achieved by an area of 0.4 m2
and feed ratio saline water of 30 Kg d . He reported that increasing the
diffusion gap by 0.10 m resulted in the decrease in distilled water pro­
duction rate, energy efficiency, and recovery ratio. He showed that
increasing salinity from 0.0 to 6.0 wt% reduces vapor pressure and in­
creases boiling point, so it can cause Energy efficiency to decline from
31
Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35
79.0% to 73.0%, and the recovery rate to drop from to 49.0% to 45.0%
Boubekri et al. (2021) used Transient 0D mathematical model for
optimizing the vertical solar still. They also considered the effect of the
increase in the driving buoyancy by evaporation in their governing
equations. They studied some parameters such as feed water tempera­
ture and the gap between partitions. They coupled 4 partitions of VSS
with a solar tracking system and the thermal solar water heater system.
Fig. 23 shows the schematic of the studied device. They concluded that
when a solar tracking system is used, the performance of the device can
be increased 293.01% in summer and 15.1% in winter. Moreover, they
showed that when a thermal solar water heater system is used, the
performance of the device can be increased 733.76% in summer and
415.55% in winter. Also, they concluded the best distance between
plates were 0.001 m and predicted that the device could produce 11.33
2 day) in summer and 7.05 (m2 day) in winter.
(mKg Kg
6. Conclusion
Vertical solar still is one of the most compact and reliable solar stills,
which has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. In this
paper, researches on the efficiency improvement of vertical solar stills
has been reviewed. Some of the improvement methods in the vertical
solar stills, addressed in the literature are; using multiple partitions,
coupling with basin solar still and tilted wick, using reflector, and using
solar collectors. Reviewed researches is summarized in the following
figures.
The main finding and contributions of the reviewed papers about the
ways to increase the efficiency of vertical solar still are as follows:
• Using multi-effect vertical solar still compared to the single effect
increased freshwater productivity. As an example, Kaushal et al.
M. Abbaspour et al.
Fig. 19. Water production in different researches against number of partitions.
(2016) showed that raising the number of partitions could improve
the performance about 15%.
• Integrating vertical solar still with basin solar still and tilted wick can
increase its efficiency. Tanaka (2017), connected a 13 partitions VSS
with a basin still and produced 19 (mKg 2 day) distilled water. In other
work, Tanaka et al. (2000); they connected a 15 partitions VSS with a
tilted wick still and achieved 24.8 (mKg
2 day).
• Adding a reflector to the vertical solar still leads to an increase in the
temperature of the absorber plate, which increases the device’s ef­
ficiency even more than the case when vertical solar still is coupled
with basin solar still or tilted wick. For example, Tanaka (2009);
connected 6 partitions of VSS with a reflector and produced
13.3(m2Kgday), also Tanaka (2018); connected 6 partitions of VSS with a
larger area reflector and enhanced the rate of produced water to
23.1(m2Kgday).
• A few researches have been conducted on the condensation and
absorption section of vertical solar still, nevertheless, there are many
32
Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35
researches related to these sections in the basin solar stills. Xu et al.
(2020), used hydrophobic coating on the condenser plate of a VSS
with 10 partitions and produced 5.78 Lm− 2 h− 1 . Chiavazzo et al.
(2018); could produce 3 Lm− 2 h− 1 by using hydrophobic membrane
and hydrophilic layer for evaporation and condensation plate in a 10
partitions VSS.
• To the knowledge of the authors, there is not directly a CFD work in
the field of vertical solar stills. This limitation may be due to the
complexity of the problem (simultaneous presence of porous media,
radiation, conjugate heat transfer, evaporation, and condensation) or
the unsteady nature of the problem and the high CPU time needed. A
few researchers have studied the vertical solar still numerically,
usually using the thermodynamic 0D modeling (Boubekri et al.,
2021).
• Based on the summarized results for water production, number of
partitions between 10 and 15 is recommended for vertical solar stills.
For the number of partitions higher than 15, the average increasing
rate of productivity declines.
M. Abbaspour et al. Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35

Fig. 20. Schematic of multi effect vertical solar still simulated by Reddy and Sharon (2016).

Fig. 21. (a) Energy and mass transport in multi effect vertical solar still (b) schematic of the multi effect vertical solar still (Sharon et al., 2020).

33
M. Abbaspour et al. Solar Energy 235 (2022) 19–35

7. Future research directions

According to the state of the art achievements, the following research

directions are recommended:

• Further studies in the condensation section of the device, such as

using hydrophilic and hydrophobic plates to enhance the process in
this section, are recommended.
• Developing and using materials with higher absorption coefficients
can lead to higher productivity.
• Thorough studies on the dimensions of the device and finding the
most suitable dimensions for different solar radiations can help to
have higher performances.
• Increasing the saline water temperature entering the device by the
heat from other devices such as solar collector can improve the
performance of the device.
• CFD analysis of the process can help to understand complicated
physical phenomena involved in different sections of the device.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial

interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.

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