Production of fresh water based on a renewable energy source is one of the most important global challenges for mankind due to ever-accelerating climate changes. Solar thermal evaporation shows promise for overcoming the water scarcity problem by utilizing solar energy, the most abundant and clean energy source. To enhance the performance of solar evaporators, interfacial solar evaporators have been introduced, which harness solar energy onto the water surface. To enable energy conversion and water evaporation at the interfaces of a solar evaporator, multi-scale heat and water transport have been investigated. Furthermore, various light-absorbing materials and system configurations have been studied to achieve the theoretical maximum performance. The fundamental physics of the interfacial solar evaporator, including thermal and water transport, and a broad range of interfacial solar evaporator devices in terms of the fabrication techniques and its structures are reviewed.

由于气候变化的不断加剧，基于可再生能源的淡水生产是人类面临的最重要的全球挑战之一。太阳热蒸发显示出通过利用太阳能这一最丰富和清洁的能源来克服缺水问题的希望。为了提高太阳能蒸发器的性能，已经引入了界面太阳能蒸发器，其将太阳能带到水面上。为了在太阳能蒸发器的界面处实现能量转换和水蒸发，已经研究了多尺度的热和水传输。此外，已经研究了各种吸光材料和系统配置以实现理论上的最大性能。界面太阳能蒸发器的基本物理原理，包括热量和水的传输，