This study investigates the enhancement of freshwater productivity and thermodynamic performance of hemispherical solar distillers through the integration of conductive porous fillers, nano-coated spiral tube absorbers, and nanofluid-assisted active heating. The primary purpose of this work is to evaluate how combining recycled metallic porous materials with Cu-NPs-coated spiral tubes and a PV-powered CuO-water nanofluid loop improves evaporation-condensation mechanisms compared to a conventional hemispherical solar still. An experimental approach was employed under real climatic conditions in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, using three configurations: a traditional hemispherical solar still, a modified still with stainless-steel shavings, and a modified still with aluminum shavings, all operated at a constant brine depth of 2 cm. The modified systems incorporated spiral tube absorbers coated with copper nanoparticles and externally circulated CuO nanofluid (0.05 wt%) driven by a photovoltaic system. Experimental measurements included basin temperature, solar radiation, distillate yield, and energy and exergy performance metrics. Results showed a significant improvement in freshwater productivity, reaching 8.87 L m- 2 day- 1 for the aluminum-based configuration, representing a 115.6% increase over the traditional still. Energy efficiency increased to 48.7%, while exergy efficiency reached 2.71%, accompanied by a Gain Output Ratio of 0.55. These improvements are attributed to enhanced heat distribution, extended evaporation periods, and improved mass-transfer characteristics within the basin. The findings demonstrate that integrating recycled porous metallic fillers with nanofluid-assisted spiral absorbers offers an effective, low-cost strategy for improving solar desalination performance in arid regions.