ENERGY STUDY OF A GREENHOUSE AND OPTIMISATION OF THE CHOICE OF SHAPE AND COVERING MATERIAL: BASED ON AN IMPROVED STATIC MODEL

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a new approach to properly estimate energy consumption inside a greenhouse. In this study, we have adopted improved classical modelling to evaluate the energy balance of a greenhouse with a higher precision. While the traditional classical model focuses mainly on the cooling and heating (and denies the deep influence of lighting factors), we demonstrate the importance of considering these three necessary components as being interdependent through this academic study; they should all be integrated in order to reach optimal crop production and efficient energy consumption. Our contribution will be to improve the traditional classical model and to demonstrate that daylight, as well as artificial lighting, has fundamental consequences on the estimating of the required energy consumption and the choice of the optimal shape and coverage material of the greenhouse.

KEYWORDS
cooling; daylight; greenhouse design; heating; energy consumption