Techno-economic analysis of solar stills using integrated fuzzy analytical hierarchy process and data envelopment analysis

• Published in: Solar energy 2018-01, Vol.159, p.820-833
• Main Authors: Dsilva Winfred Rufuss, D., Raj Kumar, V., Suganthi, L., Iniyan, S., Davies, P.A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analytic hierarchy process; Data analysis; Data envelopment analysis; Data processing; Desalination; Economic analysis; Efficiency; Fuzzy AHP DEA; MCDM; Operations research; Paraffin; Phase change materials; R&D; Relative efficiency; Research & development; Solar energy; Solar stills; Tracking systems
• ISSN: 0038-092X; 1471-1257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2017.11.050

[Display omitted] •Fuzzy AHP was used to find the percentage weighting of input and output criteria.•DEA approach was used to compare the overall efficiency of various solar stills.•Research helped to identify which input/output criteria should be prioritised.•Pyramid type still, and still with PVT and storage, lie on the efficiency frontier.•The efficiency frontier serves as a benchmark for improvement of other stills. Desalination using solar stills is an ancient economic method for water desalination. Over the years, research and development in the area of solar still has resulted in increased distillate yield by means of integration of PCM (phase change material), photo-voltaic thermal (PVT), etc with the still. Nano-PCM is an upcoming technology which modifies the thermal performance of PCM. The aim of this research is to analyze the efficiency of 20 solar stills including nano-PCM based solar stills considering various input and output criteria using integrated fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA). The efficiency derived here is relative with regard to the parameters and stills considered in this study. The result infers that, even though the productivity of stepped solar still with sun tracking system was high, but when techno-economic aspects were considered it is not among the top solar stills. The analysis indicated pyramid type solar still, single slope solar still with PVT, solar still with NPCM (paraffin + copper oxide), solar still with NPCM (paraffin + titanium dioxide) and solar still with PCM (paraffin) occupies the top five positions with relative efficiency of 100, 100, 88.47, 88.46 and 76.93% respectively.