On the selection of shape and orientation of a greenhouse: Thermal modeling and experimental validation

In this study, five most commonly used single span shapes of greenhouses viz. even-span, uneven-span, vinery, modified arch and quonset type have been selected for comparison. The length, width and height (at the center) are kept same for all the selected shapes. A mathematical model for computing transmitted total solar radiation (beam, diffused and ground reflected) at each hour, for each month and at any latitude for the selected geometry greenhouses (through each wall, inclined surfaces and roofs) is developed for both east-west and north-south orientation. Computed transmitted solar radiation is then introduced in a transient thermal model developed to compute hourly inside air temperature for each shape and orientation. Experimental validation of both the models is carried out for the measured total solar radiation and inside air temperature for an east-west orientation, even-span greenhouse (for a typical day in summer) at Ludhiana (31°N and 77°E) Punjab, India. During the experimentation, capsicum crop is grown inside the greenhouse. The predicted and measured values are in close agreement. Results show that uneven-span shape greenhouse receives the maximum and quonset shape receives the minimum solar radiation during each month of the year at all latitudes. East-west orientation is the best suited for year round greenhouse applications at all latitudes as this orientation receives greater total radiation in winter and less in summer except near the equator. Results also show that inside air temperature rise depends upon the shape of the greenhouse and this variation from uneven-span shape to quonset shape is 4.6 °C (maximum) and 3.5 °C (daily average) at 31°N latitude.     

Thermal modelling of asymmetric overlap roof greenhouse with experimental validation

Global solar radiation availability model and thermal model for newly designed asymmetric overlap roof shape (AORS) greenhouse are presented and experimentally validated. Instantaneous solar radiation flux is utilised in a dynamic thermal model to ascertain the hourly plant and inside air temperature. The AORS is also compared with the previously developed two best greenhouse shapes. An experimental validation of both the models is carried out for the measured instantaneous solar radiation, plant and inside air temperature for a typical day in summer at Ludhiana (31°N and 77°E), Punjab, India. During the experimentation, a tomato crop was grown inside the greenhouse. From the results, it can be inferred that an east–west orientation AORS greenhouse should be preferred due to a lesser solar radiation capture in summer months. The predicted plant and air temperatures are in good agreement with the measured data having a root mean square error of 4.69 and 3.7, respectively.     

Energy‐efficient design of greenhouse for Canadian Prairies using a heating simulation model

Greenhouses in northern climates require a large amount of supplemental heating for growing crops in winter seasons, so energy‐efficient design of greenhouses based on local climate is important to minimize the heating demand. In this study, greenhouse design parameters including shape, orientation, the angle of the roof, and width of the span have been studied for the conceptual design of conventional greenhouses for Canadian Prairies using a heating simulation model. Five different shapes of greenhouses including even‐span, uneven‐span, modified arch, vinery, and quonset shape have been selected for the study. The simulation results proved that the uneven‐span gable roof shape receives the highest solar radiation, whereas the quonset shape receives the lowest solar radiation. However, the quonset shape greenhouse requires about 7.6% less annual heating as compared to the gable roof greenhouse, but the quonset would not be adopted as multispan greenhouses. Therefore, the gable roof greenhouse is considered as energy efficient for the multispan gutter connected greenhouses whereas quonset shape as a free‐standing single‐span greenhouses. In high northern latitudes, the greenhouse with east‐west orientation is more energy efficient from heating and cooling point of view when the length‐width ratio of the greenhouse is more than 1. The heating energy saving potential of the large span width in single‐span greenhouses is relatively higher as compared to the multispan greenhouses.     

Evaluation of solar fraction (Fn) for quonset type empty greenhouse: an experimental validation

In this study, the experiments were conducted from December 2000 to November 2001 to evaluate solar fraction (F_n) for quonset type empty greenhouse. Solar radiation was measured at different points inside and outside the greenhouse weekly once. The model based on Auto-CAD 2000 has been used for a given solar altitude and azimuth angles. Calculations have also been carried out for a typical day of each month of the year. It is observed that the solar fraction obtained by using Auto-CAD 2000 are very close to the value determined by using experimental observations and its value is more during winter months. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A comprehensive review of greenhouse shapes and its applications

Greenhouse technology is a practical option for the production and drying of agricultural products in controlled environment. For the successful design of a greenhouse, the selection of a suitable shape and orientation is of great importance. Of various shapes of greenhouses, the even-span roof and the Quonset shape greenhouses are the most commonly used for crop cultivation and drying. The orientation of greenhouses is kept east–west for maximum utilization of solar radiations. Hybrid and modified greenhouse dryers have been proposed for drying of products. The agricultural products dried in greenhouses are found to be better in quality as compared to open sun drying because they are protected from dust, rain, insects, birds and animals. Moreover, various greenhouses shapes along with their applications have been reviewed.     

Experimental investigation on pyramid solar still with single and double collector cover—Comparative study

Sun radiation is the heat energy source for solar still. That should be utilized maximum for increasing the evaporative rate at the top surface of the brine. The pyramid shape solar still (PSSS) can receive solar input radiation from all four directions. In this research, the top layer of conventional pyramid shape solar still (CPSSS) is covered with air‐packed cover and analysed the effect in the modified still after air packed in between the two glasses, finally, that result is compared with the CPSSS. The air inside the two glasses will be receiving maximum radiation and retain in it. It can be used as top side insulation and which can ensure the maximum insulation for heat energy inside the PSSS. The CPSSS and air‐packed pyramid shape solar still (APPSSS) were fabricated and experimented. The experiments were conducted at an ambient condition of the Chennai, Tamil Nadu (12.9416°N, 80.2362°E). The CPSSS gives good yield at evening when an increase in wind velocity. The APPSSS gives a lower performance as compared to the CPSSS due to the air‐packed cover.     

Thermal modelling and experimental validation of ground temperature distribution in greenhouse

A periodic analysis for daily and monthly variations of ground temperature with depths is presented both under greenhouse and bare surface conditions of Delhi and for bare surface condition in other climates of India in order to design an efficient earth to air heat exchanger for greenhouse system. Calculations were carried out for a typical winter and summer day of Delhi in year 2000. Predicted values of ground temperature at 1 m depth were in fair agreement with experimental values under both conditions. Ground temperatures at various depths inside greenhouse were found to be on an average 7–9°C and 3–6°C higher than bare surface for daily and monthly variations respectively. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of greenhouse design parameters on conservation of energy for greenhouse environmental control

A mathematical model was developed and used to study the effect of various energy conservation measures to arrive at a set of design features for an energy efficient greenhouse. The Simulation results indicated that under cold climatic conditions of northern India, a gothic arch shaped greenhouse required 2.6% and 4.2% less heating as compared to gable and quonset shapes. An east–west oriented gothic arch greenhouse required 2% less heating as compared to a north–south oriented one. North wall insulation of an east west oriented gothic arch greenhouse saved 30% in heating costs. The use of night curtains reduced the night time heating requirement by 70.8% and daily requirement by 60.6%. By replacing the single cover on the southern side with air inflated double wall glazing, the heating requirement was reduced by 23%. The combination of the design features for an energy efficient greenhouse suitable for cold climatic conditions was found to reduce the greenhouse heating needs by 80%. An internal rock bed thermal storage/retrieval system met the remaining heating energy requirements of the energy-conserving greenhouse.     

Short-term thermal performance of a built-in solar storage for frost prevention in a greenhouse

Built-in solar storage is an alternative to the traditional solar collectors. This paper explores the possibility of utilizing such solar stores for frost prevention in greenhouses. In the study, two identical NE–SW orientated greenhouses with 50 m² ground area were erected. The total ground area and volume of the water stores used in the solar greenhouse were about 6·4 and 5·4% of the total ground area and volume of the greenhouse. The short-term results showed that at times when the air temperature in the control greenhouse dropped below 0°C, it was about 3·5°C in the solar greenhouse, and sometimes this difference was more than 4·5°C. The average fraction of solar energy storage by the stores was 0·26 for a four day period. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

温室内太阳净辐射分配及计算

针对温室内存在气体辐射问题,应用辐射相关知识,推导出温室各内表面对太阳净辐射的吸收份额,并给出了温室内气体吸收率的计算方法。针对睛天和阴天的不同太阳辐射特性,提出了相应的理论计算方法,为温室内能量计算提供了理论依据。     

A solar ejector air‐conditioning system using environment‐friendly working fluids

In this paper, the performance of the solar‐driven ejector air conditioning with several environment‐friendly working fluids is studied. The effect of the fluid nature and operating conditions on the ejector performance is examined. This performance is calculated using an empirical correlation. Thermodynamic properties of functioning fluids are obtained with a package REFPROP7. It appears that the refrigerant R717 offers the highest coefficient of performance (COP). For generator temperature T_B = 90°C, condenser temperature T_C = 35°C and evaporator temperature T_E = 15°C and with R717, the COP of ejector air‐conditioning system is 0.408. Using a meteorological data for the city of Tunis, the system performance is computed for three collector types. The air‐conditioning season and period were taken for six months from April to September. The daily period is between 8 and 17 h. For the solar air‐conditioning application, the COP of the overall system varied from 0.21 to 0.28 and the exergy efficiency varied from 0.14 to 0.19 with the same working conditions and total solar radiation (351–875 Wm^?2) in July. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An investigation of the performance of 14 models for estimating hourly diffuse irradiation on inclined surfaces at tropical sites

The performance of 14 models for estimating hourly diffuse irradiation on inclined surfaces was investigated. In order to obtain solar radiation data for this investigation, equipment for measuring solar radiation on inclined surfaces facing to the north, south, east and the west at different tilted angles to the horizontal surface (30°, 60° and 90°) were constructed and installed at two tropical sites in Thailand, namely Nakhon Pathom (13.82 °N, 100.04 °E) and Ubon Ratchathani (15.25 °N, 104.87 °E). Radiation data encompassing different periods of 1–4 years were used in this work. Diffuse irradiance measurements at different tilted angles were compared with various model algorithms. Results show that the Muneer and Gueymard models have comparable performance in terms of root mean square difference (RMSD) and these models give the lowest RMSD, as compared to that of the other models.     

Parametric studies for heating performance of an earth to air heat exchanger coupled with a greenhouse

A thermal model has been developed to investigate the potential of using the stored thermal energy of the ground for greenhouse heating with the help of an earth to air heat exchanger (EAHE) system integrated with the greenhouse located in the premises of IIT, Delhi, India. Experiments were conducted extensively during the winter period from November 2002 to March 2003, but the model developed was validated against the clear and sunny days. Parametric studies performed for EAHE coupled with the greenhouse illustrate the effects of buried pipe length, pipe diameter, mass flow rate of air, depth of ground and soil types on greenhouse air temperatures. Temperatures of greenhouse air with the experimental parameters of EAHE were found to be on an average 7–8°C more in the winter than the same greenhouse without EAHE. Greenhouse air temperatures increase in the winter with increasing pipe length, decreasing pipe diameter, decreasing mass flow rate of flowing air inside buried pipe and increasing depth of ground up to 4 m. Predicted and measured values of greenhouse air temperature, which were verified in terms of root mean square of percent deviation and correlation coefficient, exhibited fair agreement. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance analysis of direct solar dryer driven by photovoltaic thermal energy recovery and solar air collector for drying materials and electricity generation

The direct-type solar dryer is characterized by very simple construction, less maintenance, cost-effectiveness, and is easy to handle. The present study aims to enhance the performance of a direct-type solar dryer. To achieve this, the photovoltaic (PV) panels with thermal energy recovery and solar air collector were integrated with the direct-type solar dryer. In this study, the PV panels with thermal energy recovery and solar air collector were utilized as preheating units to raise the air temperature before entering the direct solar dryer. Moreover, the PV panels were utilized to drive the air blower. In this study, three incorporated models are suggested to study the performance of the solar dryer integrated with PV panels with thermal energy recovery and solar air collector. The model of each component was validated by the previously recorded empirical data. The results confirmed that the dual utilization of the PV panels with thermal energy recovery and solar air collector as a preheating unit raised the air temperature entering the direct solar dryer by the rate varying between 29°C and 42°C within the period 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Also, the moisture content of banana samples inside the direct solar dryer reduced from the initial value of 72% (wb) to the value of 33.4% (wb) within 7 h (9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.). During this operating period, moisture removal from the banana samples varied between 110 and 400 g/h.     

Experimental investigation of the performance of a solar‐assisted ground‐source heat pump system for greenhouse heating

The main objective of the present study is to investigate the performance characteristics of a solar‐assisted ground‐source heat pump system (SAGSHPS) for greenhouse heating with a 50 m vertical 1¼ in nominal diameter U‐bend ground heat exchanger. This system was designed and installed in the Solar Energy Institute, Ege University, Izmir (568 degree days cooling, base: 22°C, 1226 degree days heating, base: 18°C), Turkey. Based upon the measurements made in the heating mode, the heat extraction rate from the soil is found to be, on average, 54.08 Wm^?1 of bore depth, while the required borehole length in meter per kW of heating capacity is obtained as 12.57. The entering water temperature to the unit ranges from 8.2 to 16.2°C, with an average value of 9.1°C. The greenhouse air is at a maximum day temperature of 25°C and night temperature of 14°C with a relative humidity of 40%. The heating coefficient of performance of the heat pump (COP_HP) is about 2.13 at the end of a cloudy day, while it is about 2.84 at the end of sunny day and fluctuates between these values in other times. The COP values for the whole system are also obtained to be 5–15% lower than COP_HP. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Passive solar radiant system,SIRASOL. Physical–mathematical modeling and sensitivity analysis

When using passive solar heating systems, it is necessary to have available an Equator-facing facade on which to install them. Rooms without such a facade are not the best option for conventional passive solar heating systems. SIRASOL is a passive solar radiant system that captures solar energy and is to be installed in the ceiling of the room. This room must not necessarily have an Equator-facing facade. Solar energy heats up a metal sheet, which is the radiant panel, which transfers heat by long-wave radiation to the room below it. This paper presents a mathematical model and a sensitivity analysis. The mathematical model was used to analyze radiant panel temperature, radiant mean temperature, operative temperature and panel surface area. Results of the sensitivity study showed that when solar radiation rises (from 200 to 800 W) panel temperature increases from 36 °C to 92 °C, whereas variations in outside and inside air temperature have a negligible impact on the panel temperature. Thus, the use of SIRASOL is possible in locations with clear skies. Moreover, from panel temperature values we calculated mean radiant temperature and thereby the room’s operative temperature, which is proportional to the radiant panel area. When this area is 50% of the room’s floor area, operative temperature grows 3.1 °C higher than inside air temperature when solar radiation is 500 W/m². The analysis shows that a thermal asymmetry appears only when SIRASOL’s surface area to floor area ratio is higher than 32%.     

Energy and exergy analyses of an integrated solar‐based desalination quadruple effect absorption system for freshwater and cooling production

In this paper, a novel integrated solar photovoltaic thermal absorption desalination system for freshwater and cooling production is proposed and analyzed thermodynamically. Ammonia–water pair is considered as a working fluid for the absorption system. Effect of average solar radiation for different months, time period of solar radiation availability in Abu Dhabi, salinity of seawater, and temperature of the seawater on energetic and exergetic COPs, production rate of freshwater, and overall performance of the system are investigated under different operating conditions. It is found that energetic and exergetic COPs, production rate of freshwater, energetic and exergetic utilization factors, and performance ratios vary greatly from one month to another because of the dynamic variation in solar radiation and its time of availability. The highest amount of freshwater is produced in the month of July as calculated to be 152 kg/h for a collector area of 100 m² and solar power of 4.8 kW. The highest energetic and exergetic COPs and utilization factors are also obtained for the month of July. Moreover, the highest performance ratio is found to be 0.056 as obtained in the month of July when solar radiation intensity is highest as available for more than half of a day. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of phase change material on passive thermal heating of a greenhouse

In this study, a periodic analysis of a greenhouse with combination of phase change material (PCM) and insulation as a north wall has been developed for thermal heating. The thermal model is based on Fourier analysis. Effect of distribution of PCM thickness on plant and room air temperature has been studied in detail. The plant and room air temperature have been evaluated with and without north wall. Numerical computations have been carried out for a typical winter day of New Delhi. On the basis of numerical results, it is inferred that (i) there is a significant effect of PCM north wall and heat capacity of plant temperature during off‐sunshine hour due to storage effect and (ii) the rate of heat flux inside greenhouse from north wall is maximum for least thickness of PCM. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

分级相变储放热系统在日光温室中的应用效果

针对北方日光温室夜间室内低温问题,该文以收集利用温室内白天富余太阳能为目标,在理论分析相变材料特性的基础上,开发基于管材封装方式的两级相变储放热系统,并通过对比试验,在北京地区的日光温室中开展冬季应用效果试验。结果表明,所开发系统对冬季室内空气温度和土壤温度均有良好的增温效果。其中,空气温度方面,在试验周期内,试验温室夜间（17:00—次日08:00期间）平均室内气温比对照温室平均提高1.0 ℃,最低气温平均提高1.2 ℃;在晴天、多云不同天气条件下,试验温室的夜间平均气温分别提高1.3、1.2 ℃,最低气温分别提高1.5、1.7 ℃;在两天一夜未盖保温被的阴雪天气条件下,试验温室的室内气温全程高于对照温室,最大温差仍有1.9 ℃。在土壤温度方面,晴天和多云天气下,试验温室10和15 cm处的土壤温度平均提高0.6和0.8 ℃,研究表明所开发系统具有良好的持续储放热能力,能改善日光温室的冬季热环境。     

Use of thermal trap material for space heating of non-air conditioned buildings

In the present paper, we have studied and analysed the use of a thermal trap material on the roof of an isolated room for enhancement of solar gains. The effect of solar radiation on the four walls and that of ventilation are also incorporated. Its performance is compared with that of a room without a thermal trap layer. Depending on the thickness of the layer of the thermal trap material, the room air temperature is 2–3°C higher in the case of the room with a thermal trap layer for most of the day. The temperature of the room air is above 20°C for the whole evening and most of the night, while the ambient temperature for this part of the day varies between 21°C at just after noon to 10°C the next morning. The performance of the system of two thicknesses of thermal trap material layer is listed.