-Rural communities throughout arctic and subarctic regions of the world have difficulties providing cost-effective means of growing produce during the winter months. Plants need light and heat in order to survive and grow, both of which are in short supply during the long, cold winters. The average temperature of the spring and fall seasons in Fairbanks, Alaska is only about 30 to 40°F, which provides unreliable conditions to grow most crops. The traditional growing season in northern areas is roughly four months long, which is too short for many plants to grow and/or produce fruit. The purpose of the present research is to evaluate the use of solar heat pipe vacuum collectors to elongate the growing season of greenhouses in the arctic regions. The greenhouse utilizes the collection and retention of solar heat and a thermal mass to store the heat during days and release during nights. The solar heat pipe captures solar radiation, which heats a water-propylene glycol mix to act as the carrying medium. This fluid is pumped into the adjacent greenhouse and through the thermal mass unit. The thermal mass consists of two concrete slabs and dissipates the stored heat to normalize temperature fluctuations between night and day. A test greenhouse was built with dimensions of 12 ft by 10 ft with a height of 6 to 8 ft in Fairbanks, Alaska. Data collections for a performance analysis were made in April 2017. The experiments showed that the temperature of the greenhouse was above 60°F, at an external temperature of 32°F. The solar heat pipe with thermal mass system increased the average greenhouse temperature by 11°F.
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