Experimental Analysis of a Humidification- Dehumidification Solar Desalination System Equipped with a Photovoltaic-Thermal Collector

In this study, a novel solar water desalination system was proposed. The designed system worked based on the humidification – dehumidification (HD) method. It was comprised of a photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) evaporator, a condenser, fresh and saline water tanks, an air blower, and a water pump. The performance evaluation tests were conducted at three velocities of air leaving the exhaust pipe (1, 1.5 and 2m/s) and three levels of saline water passing over the photovoltaic module (94, 189 and 283kg.h-1 per m2 collector surface). The results showed that the highest evaporator efficiency was about 80% and the maximum daily evaporated water was about 7.4kg, which were observed at the water flow rate of 189kg.h-1m-2 and the air velocity of 2m/s. Whereas, a maximum condenser effectiveness of 61% and fresh water production of about 4.8kg per day were found at the water flow rate of 189kg.h-1m-2 and the air velocity of 1m/s. Although operating temperature of the conventional photovoltaic module was considerably higher than the PVT collector at the different working conditions, its electrical efficiency was also higher due to the more absorption of solar energy.