Advances in Floating Solar Desalination Systems

The growing demand for sustainable desalination solutions has increased interest in floating solar stills, particularly in remote areas. This work presents a technical analysis of the main configurations of these systems, classified into five categories: traditional, special‐design, membrane‐based, multi‐effect and models incorporating thermal energy storage materials or neural networks. Membrane‐based systems exhibit high thermal performance, with efficiencies exceeding 80%, with evaporation rates typically in the range of 1.2–1.6 kg m −2 h −1 , while multi‐effect configurations stand out for their higher freshwater productivity due to latent heat recovery achieving specific water production above 3 kg m −2 h −1 and, in optimized multi‐stage designs, exceeding 6 kg m −2 h −1 . In contrast, traditional models face limitations related to heat loss, salt fouling and reduced durability and generally exhibit lower freshwater productivities, commonly below 1.0–1.2 L m −2 h −1 under typical operating conditions.