Evaluating the influence of coir fibres on solar still efficiency and economic viability

Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to determine the Coir fibres (CF) utilization in solar stills (SS) to boost the quantity of freshwater production. By placing dry CF fibres in the absorber basin, researchers were able to accelerate the rate at which water evaporated from the SS. Under various CF densities, the freshwater production of the absorber basin was measured (8, 11, 14, 18, 20, 23, and 26). The outcomes demonstrated that yield was raised by 27.23 percent after 18-fiber SSCF was added to the absorber basin. There were 14.27 percent, 19.40 percent, 24.57 percent, 25.00 percent, 16.28 percent, and 6.23 percent yield improvements for solar stills with 8, 11, 14, 18, 20, 23, and 26 fibres in the absorber basin, respectively, as compared to a CSS. The results demonstrate that compared to CSS, the cost to produce one litre of freshwater with SSCF is reduced by 23.1%. The return of investment for SSCF is much more immediate than it is for CSS. An estimated ₹242 was needed to produce 1 litre of freshwater using CSS, while an estimated ₹199 was needed to produce 1 litre of freshwater using SSCF. The payback time for SS was only 6.23 months, which was significantly less than that of solar panels. CF are preferable to other materials for use in the solar still due to their lower cost and higher energy efficiency.