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A Validated Model, Scalability, and Plant Growth Results for an Agrivoltaic Greenhouse
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

A Validated Model, Scalability, and Plant Growth Results for an Agrivoltaic Greenhouse

Michael Evans, J Langley, Finley Shapiro and Gerard Jones
Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), v 14(10), p6154
01 Jan 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106154
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106154View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)CC BY V4.0,  Open

Abstract

Agricultural production Agriculture Agrivoltaics Air temperature Alternative energy sources Arrays Brassica Concrete Corn Crops Electrical loads Farmers Freezing Greenhouses Growing season Heat transfer Moisture effects Panels Photovoltaic cells Photovoltaics Plant growth Radiation Relative humidity Renewable resources Solar radiation Wind direction Wind measurement Wind speed
We developed an agrivoltaic greenhouse (a ‘test cell’) that partially trapped waste heat from two photovoltaic (PV) panels. These panels served as parts of the roof of the enclosure to extend the growing season. Relative humidity, internal air temperature, incident solar radiation, wind speed, and wind direction were measured for one year. A locally 1-D transient heat and moisture transport model, as well as a shadowing model, was developed and validated with experimental data. The models were used to investigate the effects of altering various parameters of the greenhouse in a scalability study. The design kept test cell air temperatures generally above ambient throughout the year, with the test cell temperature below freezing for 36% less of the year than ambient. Plant growth experiments showed that kale, Brassica oleraceae, a shade-tolerant plant, can be grown within the test cell throughout the winter. The simulations showed that enlarging the greenhouse will increase cell air temperatures but that powering an electric load from the PV panels will reduce cell air temperatures.

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19 Record Views
10 citations in Web of Science
11 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#2 Zero Hunger
#13 Climate Action

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Environmental Sciences
Environmental Studies
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
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