A recently developed thermal energy recycling unit operating under forced air circulation was attached to a conventional, basin-type solar still to enhance overall still productivity. In this unit, a relatively large fraction of the latent heat of condensation of the distillate is utilized to preheat and evaporate the feedstock. The system performance was tested in the laboratory using a solar simulator. The solar still was double glazed and no condensation was observed on the inner glazing when operating in the thermal energy recycling mode. The overall system productivity was about three times that of a conventional (single-effect) basin-type solar still. The advantages of the proposed system design are the following: (i) the solar still productivity can be enhanced significantly and at a reasonable cost; (ii) non-wetting glazings (e.g. certain plastic glazings) can be utilized, since in this mode of operation the glazing does not function as a condensation surface (iii) as a result, the thermal losses from the outer surface of the glazing to the ambient can be reduced significantly by the use of double glazings; (iv) the system is very adaptable to the utilization of an external waste energy source (e.g. wet steam or hot saturated air) for nocturnal distillation, viz. operation in the absence of solar radiation.