<p>Rapid population growth has exacerbated freshwater scarcity worldwide. In India, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions like Rajasthan and Gujarat, water shortages are becoming increasingly severe, leading to a greater reliance on desalination and other purification methods. However, the rising cost of distillation due to sharp increases in fossil fuel prices has made the process less viable. Solar stills offer a sustainable solution for desalination, yet the quest for the most efficient solar distillation technique continues. Therefore, this study focuses on enhancing the performance of a modified semi-cylindrical solar still (MSSS) using four different experimental setups: MSSS1 (aluminum fins), MSSS2 (iron wick), MSSS3 (marble pieces), and MSSS4 (stainless steel curl strips). Performance was analyzed based on energy, exergy, economic, exergoeconomic, exergoenvironmental, enviroeconomic, exergoenviroeconomic, embodied energy, CO₂ emissions, and CO₂ mitigation parameters. MSSS4 outperformed all setups, achieving 47.08% higher productivity than MSSS1 and improving overall efficiency by up to 32.96%. It also had the lowest cost per liter ($0.00832) and reduced CO₂ emissions by 12.44% compared to MSSS1. Additionally, MSSS4 led to the highest revenue and CO₂ mitigation improvements, making it the most effective design.</p>