Water Harvesting Strategies through Solar Steam Generator Systems

Solar steam generator (SSG) systems have attracted increasing attention, owing to its simple manufacturing, material abundance, cost-effectiveness, and environmentally friendly freshwater production. This system relies on photothermic materials and water absorbing substrates for a clean continuous distillation process. To optimize this process, there are factors that are needed to be considered such as selection of solar absorber and water absorbent materials, followed by micro/macrostructural system design for efficient water evaporation, floating, and filtration capability. In this contribution, we highlight the general interfacial SSG concept, review and compare recent progresses of different SSG systems, as well as discuss important factors on performance optimization. Furthermore, unaddressed challenges such as SSG's cost to performance ratio, filtration of untreatable micropollutants/microorganisms, and the need of standardization testing will be discussed to further advance future SSG studies.

Automated summary

Solar steam generator (SSG) systems have gained increasing attention for their simple manufacturing, material abundance, cost-effectiveness, and environmentally friendly freshwater production. This article provides an overview of the SSG concept, reviews recent progress in different SSG systems, and discusses important factors for performance optimization. The challenges of cost-performance ratio, filtration of untreatable micropollutants/microorganisms, and the need for standardization testing are also addressed to advance future SSG studies.