Economic feasibility evaluation of solar

distillation systems based on the equivalent

cost of environmental degradation and
high-grade energy savings
..............................................................................................................................................................

K. R. Ranjan1,2 * and S. C. Kaushik1

1
Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016,
India; 2Permanent affiliation: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Training
and Technical Education, New Delhi, India

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ijlct/article/11/1/8/2363380 by guest on 05 October 2023

.............................................................................................................................................
Abstract
Solar distillation systems have been found economically feasible in desalination of saline water. It is a
simple and cost-effective low-carbon technology. Free of cost, non-polluting, non-exhaustible solar energy
is used to produce distilled water inside a solar still. In this article, the usual economic analysis model has
been modified by incorporating the factor of equivalent cost of environmental degradation and high-
grade energy savings for solar stills. The unit cost of desalination of saline water is estimated to be US$
0.034/L corresponding to 30.42% energy efficiency of a passive solar still. It decreases to US$ 0.024/L using
the modified model. Double-slope passive solar stills desalinate at a lowest cost of US$ 0.007/L. Due to
higher capital cost of active solar stills, the unit cost of desalination of saline water is higher even if
productivity is more. Effects of variation of energy efficiency, useful life, capital cost, etc. are also studied.
The payback periods of the passive solar still are found to be in the range of 1.1 to 7.6 years if the selling
price of distilled water decreases from US$ 0.18 to 0.04/L.

Keywords: techno-economic analysis; passive and active solar stills; carbon credits; solar energy; solar
*Corresponding author:
desalination process
kumarrranjan@rediffmail.
com Received 20 April 2013; revised 10 May 2013; accepted 14 May 2013
................................................................................................................................................................................

1 INTRODUCTION deprived of sufficient supply of fresh water even today. Hence,

there is urgent need to revive the alternative low-carbon tech-
Safe drinking water is precious for healthy life but its availability is nologies based on renewable energy sources for producing safe
limited. Only 3% of total water on the earth is fresh water. Less drinking water in both rural and urban areas. Solar energy is
than 1% of the available fresh water is suitable for human and found to be one of the most promising renewable energy sources
animal consumptions. Demand for fresh water is increasing due to for desalination process. The historical perspective reported by
increasing population and change of life style. Water is equally Delyannis [1] presents an in-depth review of the development of
required for agricultural and industrial applications. Therefore, it solar desalination since ancient times. Tiwari et al. [2] have pre-
has become essential to get fresh water from the underground salty sented the present status of solar distillation in the world and its
water reserve or the ocean through desalination process. future perspective. They have also discussed briefly the econom-
Most of the commercial desalination technologies available ics of single- and double-slope fiber-reinforced plastic on the
today consume high-grade energy generated through conven- basis of long-term performance.
tional non-renewable energy sources. Side effect of fulfilling the Solar distillation is a simple and cost-effective low-carbon
need of fresh water is associated with CO2 emissions causing technology. It is capable of providing safe drinking water to
global warming and climate change. People living in remote and household and other applications in small quantity. For large
rural areas not connected with grid power supply remain quantity, multiple units of solar distillation system are required.

International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies 2016, 11, 8 –15

# The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc/3.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use,
please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
doi:10.1093/ijlct/ctt048 Advance Access Publication 19 June 2013 8
 Economic feasibility evaluation of solar distillation systems

Solar distillation systems can be classified as passive and active. effect system, and less than 4% for a single-effect system. A
Main device of the system inside which evaporation and con- passive solar still was also studied exergetically by Torchia-Nunez
densation of water similar to the process of rainfall in nature et al. [11]. It is found that the most influential parameter is solar
take place is known as solar still. The schematic diagram of a irradiance. The largest exergy destruction is found to be in the
simple single-effect basin-type passive solar still [3] is shown in collector (basin). It is also estimated that for the same exergy
Figure 1. Input energy of the passive solar stills is the solar radi- input, a collector, brine and solar still have exergy efficiencies of
ation, which is absolutely at zero cost. But efficiency of the 12.9, 6 and 5%, respectively. An energy, exergy and life cycle cost
system is found to be low and cost of product water is high. analysis of single and double-slope solar stills has been carried
Attempts have been made to increase the efficiency and product- out by Dwivedi and Tiwari [12]. Double-slope solar still is
ivity by preheating the saline water of solar still. This method is found to give higher distillate output in summer with low
called active solar distillation. In case of active solar still, an add- annual distillate, higher exergy efficiency, low cost of production
itional source of thermal energy is required for faster evapor- and low energy payback time compared with single-slope solar
ation inside the same passive solar still. The additional source still. Kumar and Tiwari [13] have analyzed the energy and exergy
may be solar energy-based systems or waste heat of industries efficiency of a shallow basin passive solar still varying parameters

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ijlct/article/11/1/8/2363380 by guest on 05 October 2023

having lower equivalent carbon association. namely the effective absorptivity of basin liner, glass cover tilt
Numerous efforts have been made to increase the efficiency and wind velocity. It is reported that with decrease in absorptiv-
and productivity of the solar distillation systems all over the ity (0.9 to 0.6) with time, the energetic and exergetic efficiencies
world [4– 13]. Cooper [4] has reported that the theoretical and decrease by 21.8 and 36.7%, respectively. The effect of glass
experimental maximum efficiency of an ideal single-effect solar cover tilt is found to be insignificant, and the respective efficien-
still can reach up to 60 and 50%, respectively. Malik et al. [5] cies decrease by 0.75 and 0.47% per degree increase in tilt. These
have analyzed the reason for lower energy efficiency of solar efficiencies increase rapidly up to a wind velocity of 2 m/s.
stills. It has been found that the radiation loss from the saline Kabeel and El-Agouz [14] have reported that the actual energy
water surface to the cover is the largest single heat loss of 26% of efficiency of the single-effect basin solar still is in the range of 30
the incident solar radiation. The heat loss resulting from reflec- to 45%, with less than 5 L/m2/day of fresh water production.
tion (11%) and absorption (5%) of solar radiation by the glass All efforts to maximize the efficiency of solar distillation
cover is also significant. The ground and edge losses are only systems from technical point of views remain incomplete if it is
2%. Re-evaporation of distillate and other unaccounted losses not analyzed economically. The unit cost of desalination of
has been found 17%; the major part of this loss may be due to saline water from these systems increases due to the rising cost of
re-evaporation of distillate, nearly 10%. State-of-the-art of the total capital investment as a result of improvement in design for
solar stills is presented by Sampathkumar et al. [6], and Kaushal higher productivity of the solar still. It is both desirable and ne-
and Varun [7]. Samee et al. [8] reported that the efficiency and cessary to produce drinking water from the solar still at reduced
daily productivity of the simple basin-type solar still under cost for broad acceptance by users. Three methods of achieving
study are 30% and 3.1 L/m2. It is also observed the output of the this goal may be by reducing the initial capital investment,
still varies directly with the amount of solar radiation reaching extending the useful life and increasing the output per unit area
on the still and the ambient temperature. Velmurugan et al. [9] of the solar still. It is difficult to consider each of these independ-
studied the single-basin solar still with an aim to improve prod- ently on account of their integrated impact on the unit cost of
uctivity using fin, wick and sponge. By the use of sponge, wick desalination of saline water. A reduction in the initial capital
and fin, 15.3, 29 and 45.5% enhancement in productivity have cost may lead to a possible shorter life and decline in the effi-
been reported, respectively. ciency of the solar still [4]. Therefore, an integrated approach
Energetic and exergetic analysis of a triple-effect distiller through techno-economic analysis is necessary to optimize the
driven by solar energy has been carried out by Sow et al. [10]. It system technically as well as economically.
is illustrated that the exergetic efficiencies lie between 19 and
26% for a triple-effect system, between 17 and 20% for a double-
2 STATE-OF-THE-ART OF THE
TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
OF SOLAR STILLS
The techno-economic analysis of solar stills of different designs is
presented by several researchers. Some of the relevant studies are
reviewed in this section. Delyannis and Delyannis [15] have
presented an overview of the economics of conventional solar
distillation plants and modern trends to combine collection of
Figure 1. The schematic diagram of a simple single-effect, single-slope solar radiation with conventional desalination processes. They
basin-type horizontal passive solar still [3]. have discussed various possibilities of increasing the efficiency

International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies 2016, 11, 8 –15 9

K. R. Ranjan and S. C. Kaushik

and productivity of solar stills, and decreasing the cost of product the productivity of the system, it is inferred that energy efficiency
water. It is reported that the productivity of a conventional solar is also considered in the analysis. But the effect of exergy efficiency
still cannot be more than 4 to 5 L/m2/day for high values of solar on the unit cost of desalination of saline water by the solar stills is
radiation. The efficiency of a solar still is projected in the range of negligible in the literature. On the other hand, the benefits of
25 to 50% depending on the construction and the ambient condi- using low- or zero-carbon technology like solar energy for the
tions. It is concluded that solar distillation is more capital inten- production of safe drinking water in terms of reduction in global
sive than any other desalination processes of the same capacity, environmental problem have not been incorporated yet for eco-
even though costly drinking water produced remains the best so- nomic analysis. In view of the authors of this paper, cost equiva-
lution for remote locations in small capacity where there are no lent of social welfare and other benefits of using safe drinking
other alternative. Govind and Tiwari [16] have described the cost water from solar stills in the absence of alternative means are also
analysis of some of the solar energy systems including solar distil- to be included in the economic analysis.
lation units. It is indicated that for a small requirement of distilled Therefore, in this article, the economic analysis model of
water, the multiple wick solar still is more economical than the passive solar distillation systems available in literature is modi-
mounted type solar still. Using the method proposed by Govind fied based on the factor of carbon credits, equivalent cost of en-

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ijlct/article/11/1/8/2363380 by guest on 05 October 2023

and Tiwari [16], Mukherjee and Tiwari [17] have carried out the vironmental degradation and high-grade energy savings (EDES),
economic analyses of various designs of conventional solar stills. and other benefits. It has been tried to evaluate the economic
Based on the analyses, it is found that the cost of water produced feasibility of solar stills using this modified model for passive
through single- and double-slope fiber-reinforced plastic stills solar stills, for which the unit cost of desalination of saline water
can be decreased if the stills are manufactured in batches. For and payback period are estimated. Its relation with energy and
large-scale distillation plants, the roof-type concrete still is exergy efficiency is also studied.
economical.
Thermodynamic efficiency of solar desalination technologies
is critically reviewed by Goosen et al. [18]. Pictorial diagrams of
various solar desalination systems are shown for reference. It is 3 ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY EVALUATION
tried to assess how the economics of a system affect the final cost
of the product water. It is reported that the cost of water pro- OF THE PASSIVE SOLAR DISTILLATION
duced from solar still plants having a lifetime of 20 year ranges SYSTEMS
from 0.52 to 2.99 US$/m3. Adhikari et al. [19] have developed a
techno-economic model for a multi-stage stacked tray solar still The economic feasibility of any solar still can be assessed primar-
using a flat-plate solar collector as the heat generator. The effects ily on the basis of ‘the unit cost of desalination of saline water’
of various factors on the cost of unit mass of distilled water are and ‘payback period’ (np) of the investment made for the solar
discussed in the paper. Thermal-economic analysis and com- stills. In this section, the conventional model of techno-economic
parison between pyramid-shaped and single-slope solar still analysis [15–23] is given to evaluate the unit cost of desalination
configurations have been presented by Fath et al. [20]. It has of saline water (UCdw) and payback period. The modified model
been found that the annual unit cost of water produced through is presented in the next section.
pyramid-shaped solar still (US$0.021/L) is a little more expen- The cost of desalination of saline water from a passive solar
sive than the single-slope solar still (US$0.019/L). still depends mainly on the present capital cost of the solar still
Kumar and Tiwari [21] have presented the results of the life (Cs), interest rate on annual basis (i), expected useful life of solar
cycle cost analysis of the single-slope passive and hybrid photo- still in years (n), salvage value of solar still in future (S), average
voltaic active solar stills. The cost of distilled water produced annual productivity in liters (Myearly), and annual operation and
from passive solar still (US$0.017/kg) is found to be less than maintenance cost (OMC). The cost of land to install the solar
hybrid photovoltaic active solar still (US$0.049/kg) for system still, annual tax and insurance charge (if any), and the annual
lifetime of 30 y. Kabeel et al. [22] have estimated the water pro- cost of saline water are ignored here. The OMC includes the
duction cost of different types of solar stills. The estimated cost annual cost involved in regular cleaning of the glass cover,
of water produced through solar stills is found to be in the range removal of scaling due to salt deposition on the basin liner and
of 0.0135 to 0.23 US$/L. The higher average annual productivity side walls, regular filling of saline water to maintain the level of
is 1533 L/m2 using a pyramid-shaped solar still, and the saline water in the basin, and safe collection of distilled water
lowest average annual productivity is 250 L/m2 using modified regularly to avoid contamination. Economic analysis parameters
solar stills with sun tracking. considered for the present analysis is presented in Table 1.
From the review of literature available on the subject, it has However, a large variation in these parameters has been noticed
been observed that attempts have been made to find the unit cost in the world due to different socio-economic conditions. A
of water produced from solar distillation systems. Economic square meter for a single-basin solar still costs about $400/m2 in
factors, lifetime and productivity have been taken into account by the USA and the levelized energy cost of solar distilled water is
almost all researchers for the economic analysis of the solar distil- about US$0.03 per liter for ten-year lifetime of the solar still as
lation systems. Since efficiency of the system is directly linked with reported by Foster et al. [24]. Cost analysis of different solar still

10 International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies 2016, 11, 8– 15

 Economic feasibility evaluation of solar distillation systems

Table 1. Economic analysis parameter [US$1 ¼ Rs.56.00 (INR) and where

E1 ¼ Rs.68.00 (INR)].
i
Parameters Values SFF = : ð7Þ
½ð1 þ iÞn  1
Cs Rs. 10 000/m2 for the single-slope horizontal passive solar
still in India The average annual productivity in L/m2 (Myearly) can be calcu-
OMC 15% of the annualized capital cost of solar still (ACs) lated as:
n 10 y
i 12% Myearly = md  Nd ; ð8Þ
S 10% of the present capital cost of the solar still (Cs)
Myearly Average annual productivity per sq. meter of the solar still: 1043 L,
for the assumed base values of design and operating parameters.
where md and Nd are the mean daily distillate output per unit
(Energy efficiency of solar still ¼ 30.42%; wind velocity ¼ 0 m/s; area and number of clear days in a year, respectively.
glass cover tilt angle from horizontal ¼ 308; the average solar The payback period is the minimum time required to recover
radiation is 620 W/m2) investment costs involved for the system. There are many

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ijlct/article/11/1/8/2363380 by guest on 05 October 2023

Nd 250 (number of clear days in a year) methods for the estimation of it [23]. For simplicity, in the case
of solar still, it is assumed that cash flow (CF) is the same for
each year. Then, expression for the estimation of payback period
configuration by Kabeel et al. [22] presents the latest cost com- can be expressed as:
parison of different solar stills studied by various researchers.  
The unit cost of desalination of saline water (UCdw) is the CF
ln
ratio of total annualized cost of the passive solar still per unit CF  ðCs  iÞ
np = : ð9Þ
area and average annual productivity in liters of the solar still ln½1 þ i
per unit area. It can be estimated using the following relation
[23]: If the distillate produced by solar still is sold at market price
(Sp), the CF can be calculated as:
Total annualised cost (TAC) of the passive solar still
UCdw = ; CF = Myearly  Sp ; ð10Þ
Myearly
ð1Þ where the Sp is the selling price of distilled water per liter.
where total annualized cost (TAC) of the passive solar still is cal-
culated as:
4 EFFECT OF CARBON TRADING, ENERGY
TAC = ACs þ OMC  ASV. ð2Þ SAVINGS AND OTHER BENEFITS ON THE
Each factor of Equation (2) is calculated by the relations given in UNIT COST OF DESALINATION OF SALINE
the Equations (3), (5) and (6). WATER BY THE PASSIVE SOLAR STILL
The annualized capital cost of solar still (ACs) is given as the
product of the present capital cost (Cs) and capital recovery Feasibility study of solar distillation systems shows that drinking
factor (CRF): water from these systems even at higher unit cost is justified in
the areas where there is no other option available for converting
ACs = Cs  (CRF), ð3Þ saline or brackish water into drinking water. In the urban areas,
cheaper drinking water is available on the high cost of envi-
where the CRF is calculated as:
ronmental degradation due to emission of greenhouse gases
ið1 þ iÞn (GHG), mainly CO2, CH4, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons,
CRF = : ð4Þ hydro fluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) by the use of
½ð1 þ iÞn  1
conventional source of energy in water transportation and puri-
And, OMC is assumed to be 15% of the ACs as given in Table 1. fication of water. It is causing global warming and climate
Hence, change. If solar distillation system is used to purify as well as de-
salinate saline water, there will be additional benefit of direct
OMC = 0:15  (ACs ). ð5Þ high-grade energy savings. Therefore, in view of the authors,
new dimension is to be added for the techno-economic analysis
Since annualized salvage value (ASV) is the product of salvage of the solar distillation system considering the cost of environ-
value of solar still in future and the sinking fund factor (SFF), it mental degradation factor and high-grade energy savings. EDES
can be expressed as: term may be introduced in the techno-economic analysis for the
equivalent annual cost of environmental degradation and high-
ASV = S  ðSFFÞ; ð6Þ grade energy savings for both the developed and developing

International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies 2016, 11, 8– 15 11

K. R. Ranjan and S. C. Kaushik

countries. In view of this, the Equation (2) of the conventional 5 NUMERICAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
model is modified in the present paper as:
In the present work, the techno-economic analysis is carried out
for the passive solar distillation system. First of all, the conven-
TAC = ACs þ OMC  ASV  EDES. ð11Þ tional model of techno-economic analysis without considering
benefits of using solar stills in terms of EDES or ECBCO2 is
used. Unit cost of desalination of saline water produced from the
If the concept of carbon trading suggested under clean develop- passive solar still under study is estimated to be Rs.1.90/L (i.e.
ment mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol [25] is included US$ 0.034/L) using Equations (1) and (2). It has been investi-
in the techno-economic analysis of the solar distillation system gated that there is marginal reduction in the unit cost of desalin-
for developing countries, the unit cost of desalination of saline ation of saline water with increment in the average annual
water will certainly reduce and become competitive with other productivity due to enhancement of energy and exergy efficien-
technologies. Then EDES term may be substituted by the term cies by incorporating better design parameters, such as increas-

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ijlct/article/11/1/8/2363380 by guest on 05 October 2023

ECBCO2, which can be defined as the equivalent annual cost ing the insulation thickness, upgrading insulating material of
benefit of carbon trading and high-grade energy savings for lower thermal conductivity, etc. This is due to higher capital cost
developing countries. of improved design of the passive solar still.
It is known that each carbon credit can be traded in open Reduction in the tilt angle of the glass cover from 308 to 158
market. One carbon credit is equivalent to one tonne of carbon involves negligible increase in capital cost. It has been found that
dioxide or its equivalent GHG. Saleable credits are known as by the change in this design parameter, 7.9% reduction in the
the certified emission reduction (CER) price. Each CER is unit cost of desalination of saline water is noticed with 8.15%
equivalent to a tonne of CO2 (t-CO2e). The prices of CER or rise in energy efficiency. Higher tilt angle increases the cost of
t-CO2e are normally quoted in Euros (E) per tonne of CO2 potable water up to Rs.3.00/L (for u ¼ 608) (i.e. US$ 0.054/L). A
equivalent. The market of carbon trading is highly volatile. Its significant 15% rise in efficiency up to 1 m/s wind velocity
value was E 25 per tonne during 2008 [26]. India is the second reduces the unit cost of desalination of saline water by 12%. But
largest seller of carbon credits in the global market as per the it is a climatic parameter. If forced convection is provided with
last year’s report of the World Bank. Presently, the price of artificial means, the capital cost and running cost involved
carbon credit in India works out to about E 14 to 16 [27]. In render the benefits to uneconomical. The results of the
the present analysis, a typical price of E 15 per CER is assumed techno-economic analysis presented here are nearly similar to
for analysis. the results reported in literature [8, 20]. In the present circum-
Raghuvanshi et al. [28] have reported that 0.8 – 0.9 kg/kWh stances, the significant reduction in the unit cost of desalination
CO2 is emitted in Indian power plants for electricity generation. of saline water (i.e. US$ 0.013/L) is possible if the working life is
Considering the CO2 equivalent impact factors of other GHG, increased to 25 y, and the capital cost is reduced to half by mass
the average CO2 equivalent for electricity may be assumed to production of solar stills and technological advancement.
0.98 kg/kWh CO2 for the present study. The electricity con- It is not so simple to predict the variation of unit cost of de-
sumption in reverse osmosis (RO) system is 0.4 – 7.0 kWh/m3 in salination of saline water with the variation of energy or exergy
the range 10 000– 40 000 ppm total dissolved salts (TDS) of raw efficiency of a passive solar still as economical improvement in
water and less than 500 ppm TDS of product water [29, 30]. The efficiencies is a complex matter of optimization of many para-
average electricity consumption for small scale domestic RO meters such as design parameters, capital cost, useful life, etc. It
system is assumed as 2.5 kWh per m3 [31] for the purpose of is a subject of further study, but in this paper, it has been tried to
calculation of energy savings and carbon credits earned if the establish a relation between the increasing energy efficiency and
passive solar still is used instead of RO system for the production reducing unit cost of desalination of saline water in ideal situ-
of drinking water. ation of constant capital cost at base value of design parameters.
EDES term is designated for the equivalent annual cost of Figure 2 shows that by increasing daily average energy efficiency
environmental degradation and high-grade energy savings for from 10 to 60%, daily yield rises and consequently the unit
both the developed and developing countries in Equation cost of desalination of saline water reduces from US$ 0.103 to
(11). Caliskan and Hepbasli [32] have presented the investiga- 0.017/L. This trend may motivate researchers to find the
tion results about energy and exergy prices of various energy methods of increasing energy and exergy efficiency [3] by
sources along with their CO2 equivalents. Agrawal and Tiwari reducing the exergy destruction in components without or with
[33] have included the carbon credit issues in their compara- marginal increment in capital cost of a passive solar still.
tive study of different types of photovoltaic thermal air collec- The passive solar still in the present study saves 2.625 kWh
tors. Similar published findings for solar stills are not available. electricity in place of using RO system for 1043 L/y. It is esti-
It is a matter of research to calculate the exact amount for the mated as 2.57  1023 tonne of CO2 equivalent. It is insignificant
EDES in connection with the application of solar distillation to be considered for claiming carbon credit. The impact of
systems. carbon credits is found to be appreciable for higher average

12 International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies 2016, 11, 8– 15

 Economic feasibility evaluation of solar distillation systems

annual productivity of solar stills or if national average annual

productivity is taken into account.
In the present analysis, an attempt has also been made to
realize the importance of the equivalent annual cost of environ-
mental degradation and direct energy savings by assigning
assumed values for EDES in Equation (11). If EDES increases
from US$ 0.00 to 20.00 per year for the solar still applications,
the modified unit cost of desalination of saline water decreases
from US$ 0.034 to 0.015/L. It is estimated at the base values of
economic parameters as shown in Table 1. Figure 3 shows this
result as the variation of the unit cost of desalination of saline
water with respect to EDES. It is evident from the figure that the
effect of the EDES on the unit cost of desalination of saline
water by the solar still is significant. It incorporates the hidden

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ijlct/article/11/1/8/2363380 by guest on 05 October 2023

benefits of using solar still for water purification. Here, the bene-
fits are exposed in numerical values.
Figure 2. Variation of the unit cost of desalination of saline water with respect
Unit cost of desalination of saline water through some of the
to the energy efficiency of the passive solar still.
solar stills has also been estimated similar to the works reported
by Kabeel et al. [22] but with modified TAC of Equation (11).
Here, values of S, OMC, n and i are taken from Table 1 like other
estimations in the present paper. Values of Cs and Myearly are
adapted from Kabeel et al. [22]. The modified unit cost of desalin-
ation of saline water from these solar stills has also been evaluated
at expected average value of EDES as US$ 10.00 and presented in
the column: modified UCdw of Table 2. It is apparent that the
values of the unit cost of desalination of saline water are in the
lower range of US$ 0.007 to 0.197/L when EDES benefits are con-
sidered as compared with US$0.014 to 0.237/L without giving any
benefits of using low-carbon technology for water desalination. In
actual situation, the numerical value of EDES cannot be taken as
constant for all cases. It will vary from lower to higher as the
annual productivity of solar stills increases.
Figure 4 shows the comparative unit cost of desalination of
saline water estimated from different solar stills for both the
Figure 3. Effect of the equivalent annual cost of environmental degradation cases. The results obtained shows that the double-slope passive
and high-grade energy savings (EDES) on the unit cost of desalination of saline solar still [37] is most suitable having lower cost of desalination
water by the solar still. (US$ 0.007/L) among the solar stills considered in this study. It

Table 2. Cost analysis and the unit cost of desalination of saline water from solar stills with and without consideration of the equivalent annual cost of
environmental degradation and high-grade energy savings (EDES).
S. No. Type of solar stills Ref. No. Cs (US$) CRF ACs S SFF ASV OMC TAC Myearly (L) UCdw (US$/L)

Simple Modified

1 PSS-SS Present article 178.6 0.177 31.60 17.86 0.057 1.018 4.74 35.33 1043 0.034 0.024
2 PSS-SS [8] 190 0.177 33.63 19 0.057 1.083 5.04 37.59 585 0.064 0.047
3 PSS-SS [20] 275 0.177 48.67 27.5 0.057 1.567 7.30 54.40 1511 0.036 0.029
4 PSS-PS [20] 250 0.177 44.25 25 0.057 1.425 6.64 49.46 1533 0.032 0.026
5 PSS-SS [21] 250 0.177 44.25 25 0.057 1.425 6.64 49.46 343 0.144 0.115
6 ASSH-SS [21] 1144 0.177 202.47 114.4 0.057 6.519 30.37 226.32 1203 0.188 0.180
7 ASSC-SS [34] 480 0.177 84.95 48 0.057 2.735 12.74 94.96 806 0.118 0.105
8 SSSC [35] 300 0.177 53.10 30 0.057 1.710 7.96 59.35 990 0.060 0.050
9 PSSST-SS [36] 300 0.177 53.10 30 0.057 1.710 7.96 59.35 250 0.237 0.197
10 PSS-DS [37] 106 0.177 18.76 10.6 0.057 0.604 2.81 20.97 1511 0.014 0.007

PSS-SS, passive solar still-single slope; SSSC, solar still with solar concentrator; ASSH-SS, active solar still (hybrid: collector-PVT)-single slope; PSSST-SS, passive
solar still (sun tracking)-single slope; PSS-PS, passive solar still-pyramid shape; PSS-DS, passive solar still-double slope; ASSC-SS, active solar still (collector)-single
slope.

International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies 2016, 11, 8– 15 13

K. R. Ranjan and S. C. Kaushik

It has also been investigated in this analysis that the unit cost
of desalination of saline water or product water and payback
periods of the solar stills can further be reduced for the higher
available solar radiation, higher energy efficiency, lower initial
investment and higher productivity.

6 CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
The authors of this paper have attempted to modify the conven-
tional techno-economic analysis of the solar distillation systems
Figure 4. Comparison of the unit cost of desalination of saline water through by incorporating the cost of environmental degradation factor

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ijlct/article/11/1/8/2363380 by guest on 05 October 2023

different solar stills by both the conventional economic analysis and the and high-grade energy savings. The concept of carbon trading
modified economic analysis considering the benefits of using low-carbon
suggested under CDM of the Kyoto Protocol is discussed in the
technology with EDES.
context of solar desalination process. The unit costs of desalin-
ation of saline water by a passive solar still under study and
other solar stills reported in literature are estimated using the
conventional as well as modified model of economic analysis.
The salient findings of the present study are as follows:

(a) Unit cost of desalination of saline water from the single-

slope passive solar still under study is estimated to be
Rs.1.90/L (i.e. US$ 0.034/L) corresponding to the energy
efficiency of solar still, 30.42%; average solar radiation,
620 W/m2; and average annual productivity per sq. meter
of solar still, 1043 L. And the modified unit cost of desalin-
ation of saline water decreases from US$ 0.034 to 0.015/L if
the benefits of carbon trading, environmental degradation
and high-grade energy savings (EDES) by the use of solar
still are increased from US$ 0.00 to 20.00 per year.
Figure 5. Effect of selling price of the product water on payback periods of the
(b) If daily average energy efficiency of solar still increases from
investment made on the passive solar still under study at base value of economic 10 to 60%, daily yield rises and consequently the unit cost
parameters [Table 1]. of desalination of saline water decreases from US$ 0.103 to
0.017/L.
(c) The significant reduction in the unit cost of desalination of
is also observed that the due to higher capital cost of active solar saline water (i.e. US$ 0.013/L) is possible if the working life
stills, the unit cost of desalination of saline water is higher even if is increased to 25 y, and the capital cost is reduced to half by
productivity is more. mass production and technological advancement.
Since the unit cost of desalination of saline water is estimated (d) The lowest cost of desalination (US$ 0.007/L) is calculated
as Rs.1.90/L (i.e. US$ 0.034/L) using Equations (1) and (2), the for double-slope passive solar still among the solar stills
passive solar still will be profitable in the market, if the product considered in this study.
water is sold at higher price than the desalination cost. Figure 5 (e) The payback periods of the single-slope passive solar stills
shows the effect of selling price of the product water on payback are evaluated in the range of 1.1 to 7.6 y for the selling price
periods of the investment made on the passive solar still under of distilled water decreasing from Rs. 10.00 to 2.00/L (US$
study at base value of economic parameters listed in Table 1. It is 0.18 to 0.04/L) in the Indian market having 12% interest
obvious that as there is an increase in selling price of the product rate. If interest rate is reduced to 6%, the payback periods lie
water in Indian market from Rs. 2.00 to 10.00/L, the payback in the range of 1.0 to 5.8 y.
period reduces from 7.6 y to 1.1 y. Other important economic
variable in deciding the payback period is the interest rate. If It is observed that there is need to understand the importance of
interest rate is reduced to half (i.e. from 12 to 6%), the payback the factor of environmental degradation and high-grade energy
periods reduces significantly. It is found to be in the range of 5.8 savings numerically at the time if deciding the economic feasibil-
to 1.0 y for the same variation of selling price of product water. ity of renewable energy system for any applications. One case of

14 International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies 2016, 11, 8– 15

 Economic feasibility evaluation of solar distillation systems

the solar distillation systems has been presented here as an [16] Govind, Tiwari GN. Economic analysis of some solar energy systems. Energ
example. Emphatically, it can be concluded that desalination Convers Manag 1984;24:131– 35.
cost of saline water through solar distillation systems is not ex- [17] Mukherjee K, Tiwari GN. Economic analysis of various designs of conven-
tional solar stills. Energ Convers Manag 1986;26:155– 57.
pensive. Solar distillation systems are capable of providing fresh
[18] Goosen MFA, Sablani SS, Shayya WH, et al. Thermodynamic and economic
water to both remote and urban areas utilizing free of cost, non-
considerations in solar desalination. Desalination 2000;120:63– 89.
polluting, non-exhaustible solar energy. The higher capital cost [19] Adhikari RS, Kumar A, Garg HP. Techno-economic analysis of a multi-stage
of the solar device can be compensated by the realization of ben- stacked tray (MSST) solar still. Desalination 2000;127:19– 26.
efits numerically in terms of the equivalent annual cost of envir- [20] Fath HES, El-Samanoudy M, Fahmy K, et al. Thermal-economic analysis
onmental degradation and high-grade energy savings (EDES). and comparison between pyramid-shaped and single-slope solar still con-
Hence, solar distillation technology can be called an economical- figurations. Desalination 2003;159:69– 79.
ly feasible technology of water desalination compared with most [21] Kumar S, Tiwari GN. Life cycle cost analysis of single slope hybrid (PV/T)
alternative technologies available. Today, it has become obliga- active solar still. Appl Energ 2009;86:1995– 2004.
tory to adopt and popularize solar distillation technology and [22] Kabeel AE, Hamed AM, El-Agouz SA. Cost analysis of different solar still
other renewable energy-based technologies at most of the places configurations. Energy 2010;35:2901– 08.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ijlct/article/11/1/8/2363380 by guest on 05 October 2023

[23] Kandpal TC, Garg HP. Financial Evaluation of Renewable Energy
of the world for sustainable development.
Technologies. Macmillan India Ltd., 2003.
[24] Foster RE, William A, Sharon E. Ten years of solar distillation application
along the U.S.-Mexico border. Solar World Congress, International Solar
REFERENCES Energy Society Orlando, Florida, August 11, 2005. [http://solar.nmsu.edu/
publications/1437ISESpaper05.pdf ) (15 July 2012, date last assessed).
[1] Delyannis E. Historic background of desalination and renewable energies. [25] Kyoto Protocol. Clean development mechanism. United Nations
Sol Energy 2003;75:357– 66. Framework Convention on Climate Change [online]: http://unfccc.int/
[2] Tiwari GN, Singh HN, Tripathi R. Present status of solar distillation. Sol resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf (15 July 2012, date last assessed).
Energy 2003;75:367– 73. [26] Carbon credits explained [online]: http://www.carbon-futures.org/index.
[3] Kaushik SC, Ranjan KR, Panwar NL. Optimum exergy efficiency of single- php/carbon-credits-explained.html (15 July 2012, date last assessed).
effect ideal passive solar stills. Energ Efficien 2013; (in press): doi: 10.1007/ [27] Gouda PK, Rajashekhar N. Carbon credits: how big is your foot-print?
s12053-013-9194-x [online]: http:/www.som.iitb.ac.in/live/carboncredits.html (20 July 2012,
[4] Cooper PI. The maximum efficiency of single effect solar stills. Sol Energy date last assessed).
1973;15:215 –17. [28] Raghuvanshi SP, Chandra A, Raghav AK. Carbon dioxide emissions from
[5] Malik MAS, Tiwari GN, Kumar A, et al. Solar Distillation: A Practical Study coal based power generation in India. Convers Manag 2006;47:427– 41.
of a Wide Range of Stills and their Optimum Design, Construction and [29] Tzen E, Morris R. Renewable energy sources for desalination. Sol Energ
Performance. Pergamon Press, 1982. 2003;75:375 –79.
[6] Sampathkumar K, Arjunan TV, Pitchandi P, et al. Active solar distillation— [30] Fritzmann C, Lowenberg J, Wintgens T, et al. State-of-the-art of reverse
a detailed review. Renew Sust Energ Rev 2010;14:1503 – 26. osmosis desalination. Desalination 2007;216:1– 76.
[7] Kaushal A, Varun. Solar stills: a review. Renew Sust Energ Rev 2010;14: [31] Plappally AK, Leonhard JHV. Energy requirements for water production,
446 – 53. treatment, end use, reclamation, and disposal. Renew Sustain Energ Rev
[8] Samee MA, Mirza UK, Majeed T, et al. Design and performance of a simple 2012;16:4818– 48.
single basin solar still. Renew Sust Energ Rev 2007;11:543 –49. [32] Caliskan H, Hepbasli A. Energy and exergy prices of various energy sources
[9] Velmurugan V, Gopalkrishnan M, Raghu R, et al. Single basin solar still with along with their CO2 equivalents. Energ Policy 2010;38:3468 – 81.
fin for enhancing productivity. Energ Convers Manag 2008;49:2602–08. [33] Agrawal S, Tiwari GN. Overall energy, exergy and carbon credit analysis by
[10] Sow O, Siroux M, Desmet B. Energetic and exergetic analysis of a triple different type of hybrid photovoltaic thermal air collectors. Energ Convers
effect distiller driven by solar energy. Desalination 2005;174:277– 86. Manag 2013;65:628– 36.
[11] Torchia-Nunez JC, Porta-Gandara MA, Cervantes-de Gortari JG. Exergy [34] Badran OO, Al-Tahaineh HA. The effect of coupling a flat-plate collector on
analysis of a passive solar still. Renew Energ 2008;33:608– 16. the solar still productivity. Desalination 2005;183:137– 42.
[12] Dwivedi VK, Tiwari GN. An energy, exergy and life cycle cost analysis of [35] Abdel- Rehim ZS, Lasheen A. Experimental and theoretical study of a
single and double slope solar stills. Appl Sci Res 2008;3:225– 41. solar desalination system located in Cairo, Egypt. Desalination 2007;217:
[13] Kumar Shiv, Tiwari GN. Analytical expression for instantaneous exergy effi- 52 – 64.
ciency of a shallow basin passive solar still. Int J Therm Sci 2011;50:2543–49. [36] Abdallah S, Badran OO. Sun tracking system for productivity enhancement
[14] Kabeel AE, El-Agouz SA. Review of researches and developments on solar of solar still. Desalination 2008;220:669– 76.
stills. Desalination 2011;276:1– 12. [37] Al-Hinai H, Al-Nassri MS, Jubran BA. Effect of climatic, design and oper-
[15] Delyannis EE, Delyannis A. Economics of solar stills. Desalination ational parameters on the yield of a simple solar still. Energ Convers Manag
1985;52:167 – 76. 2002;43:1639– 50.

International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies 2016, 11, 8– 15 15