A Solar Still for Sophomore Design

A six-week long team project (design, build and test a solar still) conducted in a sophomore design course is described. Eight stills were constructed and then tested during a four-hour period around solar noon under very good solar conditions. The performances of the individual stills were quite varied (based on efficiency and expected water collection), but the average performance was close to the expected performance based on information available in the literature. However, the costs for these one-time devices were about double the value suggested in the literature. Evaluations of the stills conducted by both the students and the instructor and results from a student survey related to the project are presented.