**5. Conclusion and future scope of work**

The rationale behind this research work is to apply and analyze the thermal energy engendered by the PCM using the incident solar radiation. The practical work conducted at two water depths concludes the inverse proportionality between the water level and heat released by water; we relate this to the volume occupied by the water in the still. It also follows that, as the water depth decreases, the distance between the top condensing cover and surface of the water also increases, affecting the distillate production.


The data available could be used to prepare the theoretical model to predict the performance of solar stills for solar distillation under the climatic condition in the parts of the world (where the intensity of solar irradiation is around 5.44 kWh/m2 /day). Efficient and optimized stills and solar distillation systems are projected as replacing wood with carbon fiber or a more effective insulator. As we can observe in the world map, near the tropic of cancer where solar radiation is potent, and seashore is close, solar distillation is a viable option in case of water shortage. Solar stills are subject to further analysis to separate dirt particles and impurities. Stills can also be used in groundwater as well as tap water to improve the quality of water by removing dirt and unwanted particles. In essence, solar distillation would play a vital role in meeting world freshwater supply demands. The data obtained could be used to investigate the scope of solar distillation further. From this investigation, we discovered that for domestic application, double-basin single-slope cascade solar still is a suitable and economical design.
