Utilization of thermoelectric cooling in a portable active solar still - An experimental study on winter days

In this study, an attempt has been made to produce a portable solar still. Because of the small size and low productivity, some techniques have been used to enhance and improve the performance of solar still. These techniques consist of using a solar collector, a wall covered with black wool, and water sprinkling system to increase evaporation rate and a thermoelectric cooling device to enhance water condensation. All walls are made from Plexiglas to make the still, unbreakable. To evaluate the performance of the still, the equipment was tested under the climate condition of Semnan (35 degrees 33' N, 53 degrees 23' E), Iran. The experiments were carried out in nine winter days and the results were measured in the same manner for each day. The results show that ambient temperature and solar radiation have direct effect on still performance but water productivity decreases when the wind speed increases. By comparing between the results of summer and winter, it is concluded that efficiency in summer is higher than winter. The results also show that the cost per liter of still is comparable with other type of solar stills. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.