TY - JOUR
T1 - Energy partitioning and spatial variability of air temperature, VPD and radiation in a greenhouse tunnel shaded by semitransparent organic PV modules
AU - Friman-Peretz, Maayan
AU - Ozer, Shay
AU - Levi, Asher
AU - Magadley, Esther
AU - Yehia, Ibrahim
AU - Geoola, Farhad
AU - Gantz, Shelly
AU - Brikman, Roman
AU - Levy, Avi
AU - Kacira, Murat
AU - Teitel, Meir
N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Israel (grant no. 20-12-0027, the BARD fund (grant no. US-4885-16), and the Plant Production and Marketing Board of Israel (grant no. 459-4540-17) for their support. Special thanks to Mrs Clara Shenderey for the help with data analysis and Dr. H. Yasour for help with measurements of agronomic aspects. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 International Solar Energy Society
PY - 2021/5/15
Y1 - 2021/5/15
N2 - A study related to the application of organic photovoltaic (OPV) modules in greenhouses is presented. It considers the impact of nonhomogeneous shading by semitransparent OPV modules, placed on the cover of a greenhouse tunnel housing a tomato crop, on energy partitioning and the spatial variability of radiation, air temperature and vapour pressure deficit (VPD) within the tunnel. Experiments were conducted in two similar tunnels covered by a diffuse polyethylene sheet. Flexible semitransparent strips of OPV modules were placed on 37% of the roof area of one tunnel, creating an approximately 23% nonhomogeneous shading, while the other tunnel, homogeneously shaded by a 25% black shading net, served as a control greenhouse. The results show that on cloudy days (high diffuse radiation), spatial variability of radiation in the OPV tunnel was smaller than on sunny days (low diffuse radiation). Conversely, variability in air temperature and VPD did not change much with the change in diffuse radiation. Except when diffuse radiation was high, no significant difference in the energy partitioning between nonhomogeneous shading by OPVs and homogeneous shading was observed. Most of the net radiation in the tunnels was converted into latent heat. With a high solar elevation angle, the spatial variability of radiation within the tunnel was higher than with a low solar elevation angle. Additional experiments are needed to determine the best arrangement of semitransparent OPV modules on the roof, without resulting in any significant increase in spatial variability. Agronomic aspects of plant growth under the OPV modules are briefly presented.
AB - A study related to the application of organic photovoltaic (OPV) modules in greenhouses is presented. It considers the impact of nonhomogeneous shading by semitransparent OPV modules, placed on the cover of a greenhouse tunnel housing a tomato crop, on energy partitioning and the spatial variability of radiation, air temperature and vapour pressure deficit (VPD) within the tunnel. Experiments were conducted in two similar tunnels covered by a diffuse polyethylene sheet. Flexible semitransparent strips of OPV modules were placed on 37% of the roof area of one tunnel, creating an approximately 23% nonhomogeneous shading, while the other tunnel, homogeneously shaded by a 25% black shading net, served as a control greenhouse. The results show that on cloudy days (high diffuse radiation), spatial variability of radiation in the OPV tunnel was smaller than on sunny days (low diffuse radiation). Conversely, variability in air temperature and VPD did not change much with the change in diffuse radiation. Except when diffuse radiation was high, no significant difference in the energy partitioning between nonhomogeneous shading by OPVs and homogeneous shading was observed. Most of the net radiation in the tunnels was converted into latent heat. With a high solar elevation angle, the spatial variability of radiation within the tunnel was higher than with a low solar elevation angle. Additional experiments are needed to determine the best arrangement of semitransparent OPV modules on the roof, without resulting in any significant increase in spatial variability. Agronomic aspects of plant growth under the OPV modules are briefly presented.
KW - Microclimate parameters
KW - Organic photovoltaics
KW - Semitransparent
KW - Solar greenhouse
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U2 - 10.1016/j.solener.2021.03.050
DO - 10.1016/j.solener.2021.03.050
M3 - Article
SN - 0038-092X
VL - 220
SP - 578
EP - 589
JO - Solar energy
JF - Solar energy
ER -