A review on diverse combinations and Energy-Exergy-Economics (3E) of hybrid solar still desalination

Hybrid Solar Stills (HSS) deliver high yield of freshwater at higher efficiency amongst the various Solar Still (SS) desalination systems, thus facilitating delivery of clean water economically. With numerous works reported on HSS, it is important for researchers to know the plausible combinations in HSS and their thermodynamic performances towards carrying out effective future research. Previous works have focused PV and PV/T based HSS. This paper focuses on SS hybridized with various secondary sources, sub-systems and co-generation. HSS are reviewed critically and categorized on the aspect of their hybridizing feature and the additional benefits of hybridization. Further, the Energy-Exergy-Economics (3E) performances of the reviewed hybrid desalting systems are summarized which has not been explored yet. Amongst various combinations reviewed, major research work has been carried out on SS with Photovoltaic-Thermal (PVT) systems as they have significantly higher thermal energy and exergy efficiency in addition to lower production cost per liter of freshwater, comparing to other HSS. Furthermore, future scope in terms of green building integration, nano materials usage, and direction to perform enviro-economic analysis are also presented. Thus, this review paper will enable the researchers to organize their research in HSS towards achieving significant performance targets.