Solar distillation is a very economical process for the fresh water production, especially in arid and semi-arid areas where solar energy is abundant. Several types of solar stills have been designed and manufactured for a purpose to increase their performances. This work aims to study experimentally under outdoor conditions of Hodna’s region, two types of solar still, the first is an inclined solar still with different wick thicknesses (thick, medium and thin) operating in drop by drop system of feed water and the other is conventional. Four clear days of the April months have been chosen to experiment the solar stills performances. The results showed that the solar stills performances are notably influenced by design and operating conditions, as revealed by the daily production and efficiency values of the inclined solar still with thin wick which achieved 4.14 liter/m2.day and 46.66%, with an improvement of about 23.21% and 12.56 % respectively, compared to those of the conventional solar still, which reached 3.36 l/m2 and 34.1% respectively. In addition, the economic analysis illustrates that the low cost of one liter of distilled water and the quicker payback period at the same time are for the inclined solar still with a thin wick of about 0.011$/l and 77 days respectively.

A numerical analysis of a basin-type solar still with a double glass cover is done under winter circumstances of solar radiation, ambient temperature, and wind speed. Equations defining thermal balances of different components of traditional and double glass cover solar stills are used to describe the physical issue, which is then solved using the Gauss-Seidel numerical technique. The effects of solar radiation, ambient temperature, and wind speed on the daily production, internal efficiency, and overall performance of solar stills are calculated and illustrated. The findings demonstrate that a solar still with a double-glass cover is more productive and efficient than a solar still with a single glass cover.