Enhancing efficiency through integration of geothermal and photovoltaic in heating systems of a greenhouse for sustainable agriculture
Mohammad Ghiasi, Zhanle Wang, Mehran Mehrandezh, Raman Paranjape
Abstract
This study aims to calculate and analyze the energy requirement and improve the efficiency and sustainability of greenhouse (GH) agriculture by integrating renewable energy sources (RES) and advanced control systems into a hybrid solar-GH heating and cooling solution. The proposed system incorporates both geothermal and photovoltaic (PV) energy to optimize performance, particularly during the colder seasons. The analysis focuses on three widely used double-layer polyethylene materials in Canadian GHs, Thermax, SolaWrap, and SunSaver, evaluating their thermal insulation and light management properties. For a practical test, a typical 1000 GH is designed to calculate the energy requirements for heating and cooling, specifically tailored to the climatic conditions of Regina, using the three types of polyethylene. An energy and cost analysis is performed considering various energy sources to meet these demands. The research calculates and compares the power generation from building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) with traditional maximum power point tracking (MPPT) PV systems and integrates a 5-stage controller with HVAC damper control to further optimize energy consumption under different scenarios. The simulations performed using TRNSYS and SketchUp provide detailed monthly energy consumption and cost breakdowns for each polyethylene type. Additional insights include monthly power generation from both PV and BIPV systems, as well as contributions from geothermal energy . The findings present a comprehensive energy analysis, highlight potential cost savings and system efficiencies, and offer valuable information to advance sustainable GH agriculture in cold climates.