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Solar heating of integrated greenhouse-animal shelter systems

University of British Columbia

An analytical procedure to determine the effectiveness of greenhouse, as solar collectors was presented. This procedure was used to predict the effect of several construction parameters on solar radiation input to greenhouses. The orientation of the greenhouse was found to be the most effective construction parameter controlling solar radiation input to greenhouses. The effective albedo of the plant canopy was also found to be a significant factor. A new solar greenhouse design, suitable for high latitude regions was developed. The results showed that an internal solar collector could be incorporated as an integral part of the greenhouse design. The concept developed could be used as a free-standing greenhouse or in a combination with livestock building. The efficiency of the solar input was investigated for the conventional and the shed greenhouses, both as a free-standing unit and a greenhouse-animal shelter system, using computed simulation analyses. The results indicated that the efficiency of solar input is highly dependent on location; the effect of location on the shed type design is more profound. A typical case of a greenhouse-hog barn production system was investigated using computer simulation analyses. The results showed that such a food production system achieves a significant reduction in conventional fuel consumption due to both animal waste heat recovery and solar energy utilization.

Text

2010-12-07

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/30321

Interdisciplinary Studies

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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