Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PV-Greenhouse Project
Dr. A. Al-Ibrahim, PI
Dr. Naif Al-Abbadi, CI
Dr. Ibrahim Al-Helal, RI
Eng. Mohammad Alghoul, RI
KACST
KACST
KSU
PEC
SUMMARY
Agricultural efforts are normally carried in remote area where electricity
from national electric grid may not exist or grid extension is expensive.
Therefore, a stand-alone power supply is always in demand therein. Cooling
and pumping equipments dominate the demand for electricity in greenhouses.
The demand for electricity occurs during the times when solar radiation is
available and in abundance; such excellent harmony between demand and
supply elucidate the feasibility of using solar energy. Therefore, utilization of
solar energy for powering greenhouses in desert climate site refinery is
considered amongst the important applications of solar energy and carries great
significance and success.
several oil refinery sites that may find this application useful.
The main
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................
1. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 1
2. OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................... 3
3. LITRATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................... 4
3.1 THE PHOTOVOLTAIC INDUSTRY AND APPLICATIONS .................................................. 4
3.2 GREENHOUSES ENVIRONMENT CONTROL.................................................................... 7
4. MATERIALS AND METHODS ................................................................................. 9
4.1 POWER SYSTEM ......................................................................................................... 9
4.2 GREENHOUSE SYSTEM ............................................................................................. 10
4.3 CROP DESCRIPTION................................................................................................... 11
4.3 MEASUREMENT AND DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM .................................................. 12
5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ............................................................................... 15
5.1 PLANTATION CYCLES ............................................................................................... 15
5.2 GREENHOUSE ENVIRONMENT................................................................................... 20
5.2.1 Greenhouse Typical Operation........................................................................ 20
5.2.2 Fan-pad cooling system performance.............................................................. 22
5.2.3 Cooling Pads Clogging.................................................................................... 23
5.2.4 Greenhouse shading......................................................................................... 25
5.2.5 Cooling Fans Operation Optimization ............................................................ 26
5.2.6 Greenhouse Water Consumption ..................................................................... 30
5.2.7 Greenhouse Heating ........................................................................................ 33
5.3 PV SYSTEM PERFORMANCE ..................................................................................... 36
5.3.1 Daily Operation Profiles.................................................................................. 36
5.3.2 Six-days Operation Profiles............................................................................. 37
6. CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................... 49
REFERENCES................................................................................................................ 53
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B
APPENDIX C
1. INTRODUCTION
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia extends from Azimuth 50 to Azimuth 35
and from latitude 17 in the south to latitude 32 in the north. Because of its
geographical location and landscape, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is blessed
with the abundant availability of solar radiation. Statistically, solar radiation
values for several cities in the Kingdom are considered among the world
highest values. For example, the amount of monthly solar radiation incident on
a horizontal surface for Riyadh varied between 670 and 1000 W/m2, the lowest
value being in December and the highest observed value was during July
(Hummeida and Mohammad, 1993). It was also found that the ratio of the
actual to the maximum possible sunshine hours varied between 0.62 and 0.8.
Previous research to utilize solar energy to power several applications in
the remote areas of the Kingdom have shown great success. Communications,
cathodic protection, and heating are among the several examples. However, an
important application, linked to the natural security of the Kingdom, has not
been given great efforts by researchers. This application is agriculture. Similar
to the other countries, agriculture is considered as the most important resource.
More importantly, demand for food in the Kingdom is immense and water is
scarce.
Agriculture efforts are normally carried in remote area where electricity
from electric utility companies may not exist or grid extension is expensive.
Therefore, a stand-alone power supply is always in demand.
Clean electricity can be produced via electronic system composed of
photovoltaic (PV) cells and other attached electronics. PV cells are clean solarelectric converters, convert solar radiation to direct current given a known
operating voltage.
Solar
Radia
tion
Energy
Cooling Load
Lighting and Misc. Load
00:00
06:00
12:00
18:00
24:00
Time
Figure 1.1: The harmony between the electric demand and solar radiation
availability in greenhouses applications during summertime.
2. OBJECTIVES
The project aimed to achieve the following objectives:
1. Quantify the operating efficiency of the new SANYO PV
module designed to sustain harsh desert climate.
2. Quantify the potential harmony between the solar
radiation availability and the demand for electricity.
3. Study the economic feasibility and practicality of a standalone photovoltaic powered greenhouse system.
4. Quantify the economics of implanting heating elements to
the PV-Greenhouse system.
5. Analyze system operation and exercise different operating
modes of the system to optimize the system design.
3. LITRATURE REVIEW
This section reviews the studies and efforts conducted by other
researchers in the photovoltaic industry and applications, as well as
greenhouses environment control.
pipelines, buildings, tanks, wells and railway lines, which can protect metal
structures from corrosion. Photovoltaic system also used to power electric
fences that are widely used in farms to prevent stock or predators from
entering or leaving an enclosed field.
Solar cells are also used for lighting at remote area where the cost of
power is too high to consider using the grid. Such applications include security
lighting, navigation aids (e.g. buoys and beacons), illuminated road signs,
railway crossing signs and village lighting. Such systems usually consist of a PV
panel plus a storage battery, power conditioner and a low voltage, high
efficiency DC fluorescent lamp (reference). These systems are very popular in
remote areas, and considered as one of the major applications of PV in
developing countries.
The cost of electric power to drive these systems and the high cost of
maintaining conventional power systems limited their use. PV power systems
has provided a cost-effective solution to this problem through the development
of remote area telecommunications repeater stations. These typically consist of
a receiver, a transmitter and a PV based power supply system. Thousands of
these systems have been installed around the world and they have an excellent
reputation for reliability and relatively low costs for operation and maintenance.
Similar principles apply to solar powered radios and television sets, emergency
telephones and monitoring systems. Remote monitoring systems may be used
for collecting weather data or other environmental information and for
transmitting it automatically via radio to the home base.
An optimum water
important cooling process as the energy needed to evaporate the water comes
from the air around the plants leaves.
manufactured in Japan, and the other equipment of solar power generation was
purchased locally from the Kingdom. Tables 4.1 shows the PV power system
components and Figure 4.1 its configuration.
Table 4.1: PV System components
Component
Description
92 SANYO manufactured modules, 160 Watt capacity each.
PV array
Total of 14.72 kW
Inverter
Batteries
Array 1
1
Sub-Array
box
&
63 A
MCB
32 x SANYO 160W
Main
Junction
Box
Including
circuit
breakers
Array 2
1
Load
Distribution
System
Manager
15 kWp
MMPT
and
10 kVA
DC/AC
Inverter
Sub-Array
box
&
63 A
MCB
MCB
120 VDC
Battery Bank
3000 Ah @ C120
350 kWh
28 x SANYO 160W
Array 3
32 x SANYO 160W
Sub-Array
box
&
63 A
MCB
10
photovoltaic system.
distribution.
Table 4.2: Greenhouse Load Distribution
Required Power
(W)
Cycle (hr)
Demand (Wh/day)
Equipment
Two Air Fans (2 x 1.5 Hp)
2237
16
35792
559
16
8944
Control (PC)
400
24
9600
Total
3196
--
54336
11
12
Channel
Ambient Temperature
Wind Speed
Wind Direction
Horizontal Irradiance
Tilt Irradiance
Ambient Relative Humidity
PV Temperature
Battery Temperature
Greenhouse Temperature 1,2,3,4,5,6
Greenhouse Relative Humidity 1,2,3,4
Greenhouse Solar Radiation 1,2,3
Greenhouse Air Speed 1,2
Water Flow
Fan Speed 1
Fan Speed 2
PV Array 1 Current
PV Array 2 Current
PV Array 3 Current
PV Array 1 Voltage
PV Array 2 Voltage
PV Array 3 Voltage
PV Array Average Voltage
PV Array Power
Battery Current
Battery Voltage
Battery Power
Load 1 Current
Load 2 Current
Load 3 Current
Load 1 Voltage
Load 2 Voltage
Load 3 Voltage
Load Power
Fan 1 Power
Fan 2 Power
Pump Power
13
Unit
(C)
(m/s)
(Degs)
(W/m2)
(W/m2)
(%)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(%)
(W/m2)
(m/s)
(l/m)
(rpm)
(rpm)
(A)
(A)
(A)
(V)
(V)
(V)
(V)
(kW)
(A)
(V)
(kW)
(A)
(A)
(A)
(V)
(V)
(V)
(kW)
(W)
(W)
(W)
2.6m
Pole 6
Pole 5
Pole 4
Pole 3
39.5m
34.5m
29.5m
19.5m
Pole 2
9.5m
Pole 1
2m
GSR1
2.4m
GRH1
2.2m
GT1
GRH2
GT2
GRH4
GT4
Cooling
Pads
FS1
FS2
GSR2
1.5m
AS2
AS1
GRH3
1m
GT3
GT5
GSR3
0.75m
AS
FM
FS
GRH
GSR
GT
Air Speed
Flow Meter
Fan Speed
Greenhouse Relative Humidity
Greenhouse Solar Radiation
Greenhouse Temperature
0.25m
FM
0m
14
GT6
Fans
with several viruses that were transmitted from other infected greenhouses in
the farm. As a result, the plants were removed and discarded. Also, the total
production of the third plantation cycle was weakened because of insufficient
cooling attained by the cooling system.
several power shutdowns primarily due to power delivery failure from the PV
subsystem. On the other hand, the fifth plantation cycle encountered a larger
damage due limited availability of water (for irrigation and cooling), from the
main supply.
The fourth plantation cycle started on late October 2001, and concluded
on the end of April 2002. Figure 5.1 shows the variations of the tomato yield
(kg) with time of the fourth plantation cyle during winter growing season of
2002, which totals 2620 kg. The figure shows that the maximum yield of about
600 kg was observed on Feb 4, 2002.
The fifth plntation cycle started on 20 May 2002, and concluded on 19
Aug 2002. Figure 5.2 shows the variations of the cucumber yiled (kg) with time
of the fith cycle during summer growing season, 2002. cycle.
cucumber yield during this cycle totled 663kg.
15
The total
The sixth plantation cycle strted on 5 Nov 2002 ans still in progress.
Figure 5.3 shows the tomato grouth rate during the cycle till the date of this
report. The cycle is expected to end by mid April 2003.
16
600
400
300
200
100
Fig 5.1: Variations of the tomato yield (kg) with time during the fourth plantation cycle (Winter, 2002)
17
April3
April2
April1
March4
March3
March2
March1
Feb4
Feb3
Feb2
Feb1
Jan4
0
Jan3
Yield (kg)
500
160
140
Yield (kg)
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Jun3
Jun4
July1
July2
July3
July4
Aug1
Aug2
Fig 5.2: Variations of the Cucumber yield (kg) with time during the fifth plantation cycle (Summer, 2002)
18
Aug3
(cm)
Height (cm)
Width(cm)
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Nov3
Nov4
Dec1
Dec2
Dec3
Dec4
Jan1
Jan2
Fig 5.3: Varaitions of tomato growth during the sixth plantation cycle (winter, 2003)
19
Jan3
Jan4
20
11 March 2001
(kW)
(%, degree C)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0:00
0
6:00
12:00
18:00
0:00
LOAD POWER
(kW)
AMBIENT TEMP
(degree C)
OUTSIDE RH
(%)
GH TEMP 1
(degree C)
GH TEMP 2
(degree C)
GH TEMP 3
(degree C)
GH INSIDE RH
(%)
Figure 5.4: Temperatures and relative humiduity for the air inside and outside the greenhouse, and fans power
consumption on March 11, 2001.
21
During this day, as the sun rises around 6:30 AM, greenhouse temperature
began to rise untill it reached 26 oC around 7:45 AM, during which, the first fan
started to operate and consequently the second fan also. As the sun sets,
around 6:00 PM, the solar radiation intensity and ambient temperature droped,
and hence the temperature inside the greenhouse droped accordingly to below
25 oC causing the operation of the fans to stop for the rest of the day.
22
90
80
70
Efficiency, %
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
21:30
18:30
15:30
12:30
09:30
06:30
03:30
00:30
21:30
18:30
15:30
12:30
09:30
06:30
03:30
00:30
Time (hr)
Figure 5.5 Cooling pad efficiency as a function of time (2 and 3 August, 2001).
23
power than anticipated. During most of the daytimes, the averages inside air
temperatures with clogged pads ranged between 30 and 51 oC, while the
inside relative humidity ranged between 8% and 30%.
This adversely
affected plant growth, and caused wilting to plants in the second half of the
greenhouse especially when accompanied by high solar radiation levels (10
AM to 4 PM).
Table 1 summarizes the recorded inside and outside climatic conditions
for the three working periods; they are: period 1 (the whole month of Jun
representing the case with old pads and without shade), period 2 (started on
1 July and ended on 17 July representing the case with old pads and with
shade), and period 3 (started on 17 July and ended on 23 August
representing the case with new pads and with shade).
Table 5.1. Daily main values of climatic data for the three periods.
Period
1
2
3
Temperature (oC)
Outside
Inside
33.7
34.4
35.2
32.5
30.4
27.0
11.6
14.2
15.0
32.0
42.0
46.9
570
550
500
oC,
25
humidity ranged from 39.3 to 44% for the air inside the greenhouse, and
from 7.8 to 10% for the outside air.
greenhouse temperature was around 37 oC with one fan. Where as, it was
32o C with two fans. This indicates that using two fans reduced the mean
greenhouse temperature more than 3
greenhouse temperature 5 oC.
26
At nighttime, the fans were switched off daily every night at 9:00 pm.
Mean, mean maximum, and mean minimum greenhouse temperature were
less than 27 oC on 4, and 5 August 2002. This indicates that no need to run
the fans during nighttime.
27
Day Time
Night Time
4-August (7:30-18:00) 4-August (18:00-23:59) - 5-August (00:00-5:00)
C
GT (mean)
30
23
GT (mean minimum)
23
21
32
25
GT (mean maximum)
AT (mean)
40
31
AT (mean minimum)
30
28
AT (mean maximum)
43
34
o
28
One Fan
Two Fans
45.00
40.00
Temperature (C)
35.00
30.00
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
Green house mean
temperature
Mean ambient
temperature
Mean maximum
ambient
temperature
Fig 5.6: The effect of cooling fans on greenhouse temperature during day time (7:30am6:00pm) in August 2002.
29
Under the
30
Table 5.3 : Monthly average consumption of water for the cooling of the
greenhouse and irrigation of the plants for several months
Date
Jun-02
Jul-02
Aug-02
Sep-02
Oct-02
Nov-02
Dec-02
Jan-03
Cooling Water
(m3)
4.6
4.1
3.6
3.6
1.6
0.7
0.0
0.0
31
5
4
3
2
1
0
Cooling (Two Fans)
Irrigation
Fig 5.7: Daily average cooling water and irrigation consumption (m3/day) during August 2002
32
During winter season the air temperature inside the greenhouse need to be
maintained within the adequate limits (15 oC during the night and 25 oC during
the day) for crop production. Therefore heating system was designed for
greenhouse by applying the steady-state energy balance. The design assumed
that incoming solar radiation (Qsr) and heater energy (Qh) to be equal to the
outgoing heat losses (Qloss) and the heat removed by ventilation (Qv) air
neglecting the rate of change of energy stored in the greenhouse and other
small fluxes. The design based on several factors including ambient and inside
greenhouse temperatures, greenhouse size, type of covering, and rate of air
infiltration. Weather data for Riyadh (Solar Village Site) from 1996-2000 was
used for this purpose. The system was installed late febreuary 2002. The
source of greenhouse heating was chosen to be Diesel fueled due to the
relatively high cost of electricity operated system.
The heater faced automatic start problem during Winter 2002/2003
making it difficult to judge well the
environment, especially at night , when it was not possible to operate the heater
manually. The heater performed well during seconed half of January 2003
when the heater was operated manually. Most of the heating requirements for
greenhouses are required during night.
33
Table 5.4 showes the consumption of diesel during this month, ambient
temperature, and greenhouse temperature during night time. The table shows
that on average, heating system was capable of of maintaining the inside
temperatures at acceptable limits for plants growth. For example, on Jan 2nd
the greenhouse was maintained at an air temperature of 120C when
the
ambient temperature at night was 3 0C. . Also, the Table shows that during 13
days out of 21 days of the sampling data , mean greenhouse temperatures
during night time were less than 150C, while during 8 days, the mean
greenhouse temperatures were equal or greater than 150C,. The table shows
that the average daily consumption of diesel used for heating the greenhouse
was 42 litters.
34
Table 5.4. The consumption of diesel during the month of Jan, 2003, ambient
temperature, and greenhouse temperature during night time where the
greenhouse heating are required.
Daily
Day Diesel Consumption (Litter)
1
57
2
50
3
58
4
22
5
77
6
45
7
36
8
58
9
22
10
28
11
36
12
27
13
27
14
62
15
34
16
27
17
12
18
59
19
28
20
66
21
54
Average
42
Mean Ambient
Temperature
At night time
10
3
6
15
6
8
7
7
8
7
8
6
6
6
9
16
8
3
5
9
15
8
35
Mean Greenhouse
Temperature
At night time
12
12
14
20
7
20
13
9
19
8
9
18
7
9
20
14
7
15
15
10
26
13
36
37
Although there were days like March 14th when the amount of solar
radition was very low, the data shows that operation continued smoothly from
the following day onward.
Power generation and consumption over the 6-day period for March
2001, June 2001, September 2001, and December 2001 are shown in Tables
5.5 to 5.8.
generated by solar cell arrays during that interval. In addition, battery power
refers to the amount of discharge from storage batteries (amount of charge is
negative) while load power refers to the total amount of electricity consumed
(e.g., greenhouse load, battery cabinet ventilation fan, DAS computer, and
other loss).
38
11 March 2001
(W/m2)
1200
(kW)
15
1000
800
10
600
400
200
0
-2000:00
-400
0
6:00
12:00
18:00
0:00
-5
-600
-800
-10
-1000
-1200
-15
Figure 5.8: Data for the entire day of March 11, 2001
39
TILT IRRAD
(W/m2)
PV POWER
(kW)
BATT POWER
(kW)
LOAD POWER
(kW)
900
15
800
10
700
5
600
500
(W/m^2)
400
300
-5
200
-10
100
0
-15
4
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
Time
Figure 5.9: Data for the entire day of June 21, 2001
40
(kW)
TI
PVP
BP
LP
(kWh)
(Wh/m2)
80
8000
6000
PV POWER
(kWh)
40
4000
BATT POWER
(kWh)
20
2000
LOAD POWER
(kWh)
TI LT I RRAD
(Wh/m2)
60
0
-20
-2000
Figure 5.10: Operation data for 6 days period (March 11-16, 2001).
41
Table 5.5: Power generation & consumption for 6 days (11-16 March, 2001)
Date
Mar. 11, 2001
Mar. 12, 2001
Mar. 13, 2001
Mar. 14, 2001
Mar. 15, 2001
Mar. 16, 2001
Total
Tilt
Irradiance
(KWh/m2)
6.961
6.690
4.338
2.814
6.888
6.267
33.457
PV
Power
(KWh)
51.69
47.65
49.77
33.57
47.46
49.71
279.83
Battery Charge
Power *
(KWh)
-14.46
-5.95
-14.21
-4.35
-7.95
-9.90
-56.83
Load Power
(KWh)
26.48
27.71
25.56
19.38
19.38
27.32
153.08
42
Table 5.6: Power generation & consumption for 6 days (11-16 June, 2001)
Tilt
Irradiance
PV Power
2
Date
(KWh/m )
(KWh)
June. 11, 2001
6.567275
78.5446
June. 12, 2001
6.834935
81.74582
June. 13, 2001
6.848537
81.9085
June. 14, 2001
6.819213
81.55779
June. 15, 2001
6.715253
80.31443
June. 16, 2001
6.722479
80.40085
Total
40.50769
484.472
* Negative battery power indicates charging
Battery Charge
Power *
(KWh)
-18.6046
-21.1775
-2.75937
-19.0496
-4.51376
-23.6191
-89.724
Load Power
(KWh)
43.10788
35.88441
43.04919
41.3766
44.09359
39.85085
247.3625
Table 5.7: Power generation & consumption for 6 days (11-16 Sep, 2001)
Tilt
Irradiance
PV Power
Date
(KWh/m2)
(KWh)
Sep 11, 2001
6.905137
82.58544
Sep 12, 2001
7.203679
86.156
Sep 13, 2001
6.925274
82.82627
Sep 14, 2001
6.676439
79.85021
Sep 15, 2001
6.602306
78.96358
Sep 16, 2001
6.260965
74.88114
Total
40.5738
485.2627
* Negative battery power indicates charging
43
Battery Charge
Power *
(KWh)
-15.9672
-11.1758
-11.7224
-7.60108
-5.81159
-3.16303
-55.4411
Load Power
(KWh)
40.7453
40.83458
40.34646
41.23146
43.60006
46.19723
252.9551
Table 5.8: Power generation & consumption for 6 days (11-16 Dec, 2001)
Tilt
Irradiance
PV Power
Date
(KWh/m2)
(KWh)
Dec 11, 2001
6.153731
73.59862
Dec 12, 2001
6.227577
74.48183
Dec 13, 2001
4.441464
53.11991
Dec 14, 2001
4.980495
59.56672
Dec 15, 2001
3.620653
43.30301
Dec 16, 2001
3.019826
36.11712
Total
28.44375
340.1872
* Negative battery power indicates charging
Battery Charge
Power * (KWh)
-16.6668
-14.8356
-8.96226
-16.3693
-14.161
-23.468
-94.4631
Load Power
(KWh)
34.38141
33.39027
34.53351
33.30097
30.09223
15.04552
180.7439
44
sufficient power is being supplied. During these days batteries approached full
charge by 9:30 am.
Table 5.8, shows different six days of extremely minimum daily average tilt
irradiance values during sunshine duration of winter season.
According to 18 November 2002 data
Aggregate of power consumption
18/11/02
14/12/02
15/12/02
16/12/02
27/12/02
31/12/02
Tilt Irrad
Power
from
PV
Power
to
Battery
Power
to
Load
Excess
PV
Power
(KWh/m2)
(KWh)
(KWh)
(KWh)
(KWh)
% of Excess PV
Power to (Power to
Load + Power to
Battery)
(%)
1.86
1.08
2.07
1.70
3.09
3.17
4.84
21.06
13.66
21.45
17.89
20.92
19.93
52.99
-8.84
-4.22
-13.18
-10.25
-10.19
-9.61
-27.65
9.30
6.70
7.78
6.71
9.03
8.71
21.19
2.92
2.73
0.50
0.92
1.70
1.61
4.15
16.12
24.97
2.38
5.44
8.87
8.78
8.50
14-16/12/02
* Negative battery power indicates charging
45
Table 5.10 shows the six extremely maximum daily average load power
values during the summer of 2001. In these days, it is clear that generated PV
power (KWh) is less than consumption power (KWh) for the entire sample.
Table 5.10: Power generation & consumption for extremely maximum daily average
load power values during the summer of 2001.
Date
Tilt
Irradiance
(KWh/m2)
PV Power
(KWh)
Battery Charge
Power * (KWh)
Load Power
(KWh)
20/05/01
21/05/01
27/06/01
30/06/01
02/08/01
23/08/01
6.36773
6.378059
6.426936
6.312202
5.138935
6.636386
76.15805
76.28159
76.86616
75.49394
61.46166
79.37118
-59.7778
-56.1394
-52.9782
-49.7657
-34.7918
-46.1062
60.10624
52.76726
56.38175
58.63573
64.59653
63.03397
Power generation and consumption over 6-days period for April, June,
September, October , November and December for the year 2002 are shown
in table 5.10. The data of the table indicated that sufficient power was
supplied to the greenhouse system.
46
Table 5.11: Power generation & consumption for one week data in April, June,
September , October, November and December 2002.
Date
1-6/04/02
18-23/06/02
25-30/09/02
13-20/10/02
25-30/11/02
13-20/12/02
Power
from
PV
(KWh)
261
400
396
460.8
258.3
222.7
-76
-70
-77
-98
-66.3
-87.8
128
228
219
247.5
137.9
103.9
57
102
99
115.3
54.2
31
% of Excess PV
Power to (Power to
Load + Power to
Battery)
(%)
28.1
34.2
33.4
33.4
26.6
16.1
47
100
80
60
40
20
hours
Fig 5.11: Variation of state of charge with Time from 25 June to 29 June 2002
.
48
97
91
85
79
73
67
61
55
49
43
37
31
25
19
13
0
1
state of charge %
120
6. CONCLUSIONS
The potential of using photovoltaic (PV) system to power greenhouses was
investigated in this research. The greenhouse under investigation is located at alMuzahmyah research station of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and
Technology (KACST).
availability and the demand for electricity was quantified. Greenhouse was in full
operation since July 2000. Data Acquisition System (DAS) was in operation since
Nov 2000. Five plantation cycles were completed and the sixth one is in progress
and expected to complete by the end of February 2003. The performance of the
PV subsystem, battery subsystem and greenhouse cooling system were satisfactory.
Based upon the experience attained from operating this project and according
to the information and results obtained from the system, the following conclusions
can be drawn:
1. Power generation and consumption over 6-days period for April, June, and
September 2002, showed that the amount of power generation exceeded the
power consumption far more than 28%. This shows that sufficient power
is being supplied to the greenhouse.
2. Due to high salts concentration in water used for cooling, cooling pads were
clogged several times and were periodically replaced shorter than
anticipated.
concentration of salts accumulates and remains over the cooling pads. The
salt content of cooling water exceeded 1500 ppm (part per million), and
hence very little air passed through the pad. Additionally, less contact
between air and water, and hence less cooling.
reduced the fan-pad cooling system ability to cool the plants during hot
49
weather and caused the fans to draw more power than anticipated. During
most of the daytimes, the averages inside air temperatures with clogged pads
ranged between 30 and 51oC, while the inside relative humidity ranged
between 8% and 30%. This adversely affected plant growth, and caused
wilting to plants in the second half of the greenhouse especially when
accompanied by high solar radiation levels (10 AM to 4 PM).
3. Replacing pads clearly improved the greenhouse environment.
Air
C with one fan. Where as, it was 32 oC with two fans. This indicates that
using two fans reduce the mean greenhouse temperature more than 4 oC,
and the mean maximum greenhouse temperature more than 5 oC.
6. Greenhouse water consumption for cooling system was found to be
influenced by airflow rate. Using two fans increases the evaporation of
50
water during cooling process. The averages daily consumption of water with
one fan running was 2.89 m3. Where as, with two fans the daily average was
4.85 m3. The daily average consumption of water for irrigation was 2.33 m3
irrelevant to the number of fans in operation.
7. The introduction of greenhouse shading reduced the thermal stress on
plants. Also, Roof shading improved inside conditions during extreme
hours.
8. During extreme summer conditions, the greenhouse cooling system along
with shade and transpiring plants were capable of providing acceptable rang
of temperature and relative humidity inside the greenhouse. During the
period from 9:30 to 17:30, air temperatures inside the greenhouse ranged
from 28 oC and 32 oC, compared to 38 oC to 44.2oC outside the greenhouse.
At night, inside air temperatures ranged from 21 oC to 25 oC, while the
outside temperature was between 28 oC to 38 oC.
9. Heating system was capable of maintaining the inside temperatures at
acceptable limits for plants growth. For example, on Jan 2nd the greenhouse
was maintained at an air temperature of 12 0C while the ambient
temperature was 3 0C. Most of the greenhouse heating demand occurs
during night times.
Finally it can be concluded that the SANYO PV HIT type (Hetero junction
with Intrinsic Thin-layer) solar cell (model HIP-G47B1 module) that was used to
power the R4-1 greenhouse showed satisfactory performance in the hot and dry
climate of al-Muzahemyah research station. Furthermore, all the other PV-power
system components showed good performance. In particular, the battery system
51
was able to supply sufficient electric power to meet the load requirement for over
than 100 hours while the PV field is disconnected.
In general, the R4-1 project operation proved that PV power is technically a
viable option for supplying electrical power to greenhouses in remote areas.
52
REFERENCES
Aldrich, R. A. and J. W. Bartok. 1992. Greenhouse engineering. Northeast regional agricultural
engineering service, Cooperative extension, Ithaca, NY.
Al-Helal, I. M. 2001. A survey Study of Cooling Pads Clogging Problem for Greenhouses and
Poultry Buildings in Central Region of Saudi Arabia (In Arabic). Research Bulletin No. 105.
Agricultural research center College of Agriculture King Saud University.
Al-Helal, I. M. and H. S. Al-Tweejre. 2001. Evaporative cooling for palm dates fiber pads and
cross-flutted cellulose pads under arid conditions (In Arabic). Misr Journal of Agricultural
Engineering, Vol. 18 No. (2): 469-483.
American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE). 1994. ASAE Engineering Practice 406.1,
p.565-568. ASAE Standards 1994. ASAE, St. Joseph, MI. 49085
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). 1983.
Evaporative air-cooling equipment, Chapter 4. Equipment Handbook. ASHRAE, Inc.,
Atlanta. GA30329.
Hellickson, M. and J. N. Walker. 1983. Ventilation of agricultural structures. An ASA
monograph, No:6, published by ASAE, St. Josepp, MI. 49085.
Humaeida, M. A. and F. S. Mohammad. 1993. Meteorological data for envieronmental and
agricultural design in Riyadh region. Research bulletin No. 29. Agricultural Research
Center, College of Agriculture, King Saud University.
Kittas, C., T. Bartzana and A. Jaffrin. 2001. Greenhouse evaporative cooling: measurement and
data analysis. Transactions of the ASAE, 44(3):683-689.
Ministry of Agriculture and Water. Agriculture Statistical Year Book. Vol. 12, Riyadh, Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia, 1998.
Ministry of Planning. Statistical Year Book. Vol. 34, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1998.
Montero, J. I., T. H. Short, R. B. Curry, and Bauerle, W. L. 1981. The influence of various water
evaporation systems in the greenhouse environment. ASAE. Paper No. 81-4027.
Renewable Energy Outlook: Vying For Market Share, World Markets Research Centre,2001,
http://www.worldmarketsanalysis.com/InFocus2002/articles/global_energy.html)
Walker, J., 1965. Predicting temperature in ventilated greenhouses. Transaction of the ASAE
8(3): 445-448.
Wiersma, F. and D. S. Benham, 1974. Design criteria for evaporative cooling. ASAE Paper No.
74-4527, ASAE,St. Joseph.MI 49085.
Willits, D. H. 1992. Greenhouse shading. N.C. Flower Growers Bulletin 6: 8-10.
53