Advanced applications of solar energy in agricultural greenhouses

Hassanien, Reda Hassanien Emam; Li, Ming; Lin, Wei Dong

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2015.10.095

Cited by 274 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 129 publications

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“…PMMA shows the least demand for heat compared to others including PE, PVC, HG, and PC. We also investigated the effect of different thicknesses, including 4,6,8,10,16,20,30,40, and 50 mm of double layered PMMA. Each sheet of the material was 0.15 mm thick; hence, the total covering thickness depends on the air-gap between them.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of the existing studies have focused on applying different renewable energy sources in greenhouses, aiming to reduce the cost of energy production for economical crop growth [5,6]. Experimental analyses undoubtedly provide the most reliable data; however, the results obtained from such analyses are often site-specific and may be valid only for the particular climatic conditions under evaluation, in addition to being expensive [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development and Optimization of a Building Energy Simulation Model to Study the Effect of Greenhouse Design Parameters

Rasheed

Lee²,

Lee

2018

Energies

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Abstract:Energy management of the greenhouse is considered to be one of the most important challenges of greenhouse farming. Energy saving measures need considered, besides applying energy supplying techniques. To address this issue, a model was developed to simulate the thermal environment of a greenhouse using a Transient Systems Simulation Program (TRNSYS 17) as a building energy simulation (BES) platform. The model was calibrated by modifying the input parameters to minimize the uncertainties obtained from the results. Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficients of 0.958 and 0.983 showed good agreement between the computed and experimental results. The proposed model was used to evaluate the effects of greenhouse design parameters, including roof shape, orientation, double-glazing, natural ventilation, coverings and their thickness, on its energy conservation capacity. It was found that the most suitable design for a greenhouse located in Daegu (latitude 35.53 • N, longitude 128.36 • E) South Korea would be east-west (E-W) oriented, with a gothic-shaped roof and double-glazing of PMMA (Polymethylmethacrylate) covering. Natural ventilation reduced the inside temperature of greenhouse, thereby reducing the energy demand of cooling. The model developed can help greenhouse farmers and researchers make pre-design decisions regarding greenhouse construction, taking their local environment and specific needs into consideration.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Optimization of a Building Energy Simulation Model to Study the Effect of Greenhouse Design Parameters

Rasheed

Lee²,

Lee

2018

Energies

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“…Geothermal heating systems are economically advantageous and are characterized by lower environmental impact, especially in greenhouse applications [6,7]. Another solution is the use of solar energy systems for greenhouse heating [8]. The limiting factor of solar energy is related to the instability of solar radiation; therefore, this renewable energy source is highly variable and unpredictable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photovoltaic and Hydrogen Plant Integrated with a Gas Heat Pump for Greenhouse Heating: A Mathematical Study

et al. 2018

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Nowadays, the traditional energy sources used for greenhouse heating are fossil fuels such as LPG, diesel and natural gas. The global energy demand will continue to grow and alternative technologies need to be developed in order to improve the sustainability of crop production in protected environments. Innovative solutions are represented by renewable energy plants such as photovoltaic, wind and geothermal integrated systems, however, these technologies need to be connected to the power grid in order to store the energy produced. On agricultural land, power grids are not widespread and stand-alone renewable energy systems should be investigated especially for greenhouse applications. The aim of this research is to analyze, by means of a mathematical model, the energy efficiency of a photovoltaic (8.2 kW), hydrogen (2.5 kW) and ground source gas heat pump (2.2 kW) integrated in a stand-alone system used for heating an experimental greenhouse tunnel (48 m 2 ) during the winter season. A yearlong energy performance analysis was conducted for three different types of greenhouse cover materials, a single layer polyethylene film, an air inflated-double layer polyethylene film, and a double acrylic or polycarbonate. The results of one year showed that the integrated system had a total energy efficiency of 14.6%. Starting from the electric energy supplied by the photovoltaic array, the total efficiency of the hydrogen and ground source gas heat pump system was 112% if the coefficient of the performance of the heat pump is equal to 5. The heating system increased the greenhouse air temperatures by 3-9 • C with respect to the external air temperatures, depending on the greenhouse cover material used.

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“…Furthermore, low enthalpy geothermal sources are becoming usual for greenhouse heating [2][3][4][5], especially for economical and installation reasons [6; 7]. In addition, the solar energy usage for greenhouse heating could be an environmental friendly and economically sustainable solution [8]. Unfortunately, the solar energy is non-stable and the electric energy coming out from the PV panels highly depends on the weather conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance comparison between fuel cell coupled with geothermal source heat pump and geothermal source gas engine heat pump system for greenhouse heating: a mathematical study

Anifantis

Pascuzzi

Santoro

2018

Engineering for Rural Development

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Abstract. LPG, diesel and natural gas are generally used for greenhouse conditioning. Alternative technologies should be developed to increase the productivity of the protected environments. Innovative solutions are represented by photovoltaic, geothermal, wind and solar thermal integrated in a stand-alone system in agriculture land. The present paper compares the performances of two renewable energy systems for greenhouse heating based on geothermal and hydrogen technologies. The first integrated system is composed by a photovoltaic array, an electrolyzer, a hydrogen storage tank, a fuel cell and a ground source heat pump connected to a geothermal borehole. The second system, instead, is composed by a photovoltaic array, an electrolyzer, a hydrogen storage tank and a gas engine heat pump connected to a geothermal borehole. In order to compare the two systems, both heat pumps produced the same greenhouse heating power input. The results show a difference between the internal and external greenhouse air temperature from 7 to 15 ºC in winter, considering a deep insulating greenhouse cover material. As regarding the first system, the following energy efficiency has been calculated, photovoltaic arrays 13 %, electrolyzer 50 %, fuel cell 40 % and the ground source heat pump coefficient of performance 400 %. Than the total energy efficiency of the first system is 10.4 %. Instead, the overall efficiency of the second system is 11.9 % considering the same performance of the photovoltaic arrays and the electrolyzer of the first system and the ground source gas engine heat pump's primary energy ratio of 181 %. The primary energy ratio of the ground source gas engine heat pump seems to be low and not competitive respect to the coefficient of performance of a ground source heat pump, but considering the overall efficiencies of the both systems the performances are reversed. Furthermore, the first system is more complex than the second one.Keywords: greenhouses, geothermal, hydrogen, gas engine. IntroductionGreenhouses are essential in those regions with unfavourable environmental temperatures. However, the energy consumption of the greenhouse conditioning systems can overtake the 70 % of the production costs. For these reasons, the use of renewable energy resources for greenhouse heating can be a solution [1]. Furthermore, low enthalpy geothermal sources are becoming usual for greenhouse heating [2-5], especially for economical and installation reasons [6; 7]. In addition, the solar energy usage for greenhouse heating could be an environmental friendly and economically sustainable solution [8]. Unfortunately, the solar energy is non-stable and the electric energy coming out from the PV panels highly depends on the weather conditions. Hydrogen gas from water electrolysis is a vector with high energy density that can be used to storage the electric energy coming from the PV panels [9]. In the paper, the comparison of the energy efficiencies of two stand-alone geothermal and hydrogen systems integrated for greenhouse heating i...

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Advanced applications of solar energy in agricultural greenhouses

Cited by 274 publications

References 129 publications

Development and Optimization of a Building Energy Simulation Model to Study the Effect of Greenhouse Design Parameters

Development and Optimization of a Building Energy Simulation Model to Study the Effect of Greenhouse Design Parameters

Photovoltaic and Hydrogen Plant Integrated with a Gas Heat Pump for Greenhouse Heating: A Mathematical Study

Performance comparison between fuel cell coupled with geothermal source heat pump and geothermal source gas engine heat pump system for greenhouse heating: a mathematical study

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