Global warming is the most serious problem humanity faces in the twenty-first century. To avoid additional global warming, the world must transition away from fossil fuels and toward carbon-free energy sources such as solar energy. However, the current generation of solar collectors is incapable of fulfilling the worldwide need for energy supply, and new creative technologies are required to close the gap between solar energy production and demand. Phase change materials (PCM) are among the most effective and active fields of research in terms of long-term heat energy storage and thermal management. Due to their excellent properties, they can be coupled with solar collectors to conserve surplus solar energy and regulate the temperature of photovoltaic solar collectors. However, PCM's actual applications are limited due to their poor thermal conductivity, availability, cost, and various challenges. This review focuses on recent advancements in integrating PCMs into different types of solar collectors. Furthermore, it aims to detail numerous strategies as well as diverse improvement approaches and modifications that have been developed to improve the performance of PCMs incorporated into solar collectors. Finally, based on the thorough results of this analysis, future suggestions have been made to offer the researcher ideas and feasible concepts for future research into PCM/Solar collectors’ system development. 

Recent advances on the applications of phase change materials for solar collectors, practical limitations, and challenges: A critical review

A review on using thermoelectric cooling, heating, and electricity generators in solar energy applications

A comprehensive review on performance improvement of solar desalination with applications of heat pipes

Impact of utilizing hollow copper circular fins and glass wool insulation on the performance enhancement of pyramid solar still unit: An experimental approach

Investigating the performance of dish solar distiller with phase change material mixed with Al2O3 nanoparticles under different water depths

People around the world are facing water scarcity, and the demand for freshwater is continuously increasing. The purification of water is the only way to satisfy the need for water. Purification can be done in many ways by purifying seawater or by storing rainwater and letting it to the ground. Different types of solar still are there, which are used to increase the output of water produced. Among others, inclined solar still (ISS) is an outstanding solution as it has a wide exterior area of water, having less depth of water to complement the regular potable water production, even the effectiveness of the inclined solar still. A lot of research had been done by increasing the surface area of water. The day to day collection of water from the ISS was found to be 1–8 kg m− 2. In this review, an analysis was made on the current status of different ISS designs to make advance modifications and research to improve the productivity of the ISS to satisfy the increasing demand for potable water. From this investigation, it is identified that active ISS and hybrid ISS are the most effective as compared to other ISS techniques.

Recent advancements, technologies, and developments in inclined solar still—a comprehensive review

One of the major challenges faced by human society is the freshwater crisis and shortage of conventional energy. Solar still is considered as one of the promising sources for the production of freshwater from saline water by desalination method. This paper represents the theoretical and experimental study of tubular solar still with and without fins. In this experimental study, the readings were recorded from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The results of this experiment show that the efficiency of tubular solar still (TSS) with fins and without fins is found as 23.39 and 13.76% respectively. The rate of irreversibility from the basin of TSS with flat is higher than TSS with finned absorber and also the rate of irreversibility from water is significantly reduced by TSS with the finned absorber. The exergy analysis showed the maximum exergy efficiency of about 11.8% from the TSS with fins and about 10.6% from the TSS with a flat absorber.

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Hariprasath Venkateswaran

Papers

Recent advancements, technologies, and developments in inclined solar still—a comprehensive review

Exergy and energy analysis of a tubular solar still with and without fins: a comparative theoretical and experimental approach.