Thermal Energy Harvesting using Photovoltaic System for Small-Scale Seawater Distillation

Abstract

Photovoltaic systems can be utilized for many purposes. In the present study, the photovoltaic system is used to produce electricity to power the distillator. A distillator is an equipment to convert seawater into freshwater. Distillators are important to be used for fishermen to help them produce fresh water from seawater when fishing at sea. This study aims to develop a prototype of a distillator by utilizing electricity from a photovoltaic system and to test the prototype's performance in producing fresh water. In this study, the solar panels used in the experiment had a power of 80WP and 100WP. The electricity from the panels was used to heat the elements in the distillator prototype to distill seawater, which will later be used to produce the freshwater needed by fishermen at sea, so they no longer need to carry fresh water when fishing. The experiment found that the highest efficiency of 80W solar panels was 12.813 %, while the highest efficiency of 100 W solar panels was 8.610%. The 9-hour experiment could produce approximately 120 ml of distilled water.