The solar energy producing greenhouse

This project is devoted to redesign and to conceptualize solar process-heating in the settings of large scale commercial greenhouses. In a joint collaboration between the nursery Knud Jepsen a/s and Arcon Solar a/s, conventional greenhouses will be converted into energy producing units with the installment of lightweight solar absorbers. The experimental stages of this project are directed towards the development of a cost-efficient solar process heat collector, optimization of the temperature of the heat delivered, while keeping the collector efficiency highest possible. Focal points in the experimental stages of the project will be directed into control of heat loss and maximization of energy collection. The solar process-heating system can be applied in ''Closed greenhouses'' without production of flowers or vegetables and thus completely devoted to solar energy extraction or ''Semi-closed greenhouses'' with a mixed allocation of system mode with intensive production schemes in certain seasons of the year combined with solar extraction. Co-production of renewable solar heat with greenhouse production of vegetables and potted plants will be feasible at much lesser installation costs and interconnected with backup sources of heat supply