The Production of Fresh Water Using Solar Energy through Interfacial Heating Mechanism in Single-Slope Solar Still

Clean water crisis is a significant concern in the Frontier, Outermost, and Disadvantaged regions in Indonesia, particularly on small islands. To overcome the concern, the development of desalination technology based on solar energy is essential due to the limited sources of electrical energy in these islands. In addition, solar thermal desalination (STD) technology provides sustainable prospects for providing clean, low-cost water. Among the available STD technology, the use of Solar Still (SS) has proven to be effective due to its potential to produce clean water from seawater at lower costs. This technique can also be further enhanced through the combination with interfacial heating (IH) mechanism, leading to a significant increase in evaporation efficiency compared to conventional SS. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and design the novel SS-IH device for clean water production using square-shell charcoal briquettes as sunlight-absorbing material. The results showed that the SS- IH device produced an evaporation rate of 0.747 kg.m-2.h-1, with a larger volume of clean water compared to conventional and previously modified SS. In addition, desalinated water exhibited significant changes in physical parameters compared to the characteristics of seawater. The quality test results also revealed that desalinated water could be used for hygienic, sanitation, and drinking purposes. Based on these findings, further studies were recommended to conduct comprehensive quality test on desalinated water for drinking, as well as examine the effects of humidity and wind factors.