Modeling and prediction of long-term performance of solar stills

A simplified method for the evaluation of the performance of a typical solar still and the prediction of long-term water production is suggested in this work. A model which describes its thermal behavior is evaluated on the basis of its agreement with the experimental results. An identification procedure of the coefficients of the model's equations is suggested based on a short period measurement. The expected error is also estimated for the long-term prediction of the still's production. It is concluded from the results that the suggested model very satisfactorily predicts the long-term output of the solar still using standard meteorological data sets, such as the average values of air temperature and solar radiation.