Design and Performance Evaluation of a Photovoltaic Greenhouse as an Energy Hub with Battery Storage and an Electric Vehicle Charger

Miguel A. Torres (), Diego Muñoz, Claudio Burgos, Daniel Casagrande, Javier Ortiz and Hernán Reyes
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Miguel A. Torres: Universidad de los Andes, Chile, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Santiago 7620086, Chile
Diego Muñoz: Institute of Engineering Sciences, Universidad de O’Higgins, Rancagua 2841959, Chile
Claudio Burgos: Institute of Engineering Sciences, Universidad de O’Higgins, Rancagua 2841959, Chile
Daniel Casagrande: Institute of Engineering Sciences, Universidad de O’Higgins, Rancagua 2841959, Chile
Javier Ortiz: Institute of Engineering Sciences, Universidad de O’Higgins, Rancagua 2841959, Chile
Hernán Reyes: Institute of Engineering Sciences, Universidad de O’Higgins, Rancagua 2841959, Chile

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: This work presents a photovoltaic greenhouse’s design and performance evaluation as an energy hub in modern agriculture that integrates battery energy storage, an electric vehicle charging station, and non-controlled loads. The greenhouse roof comprises 48 semi-transparent photovoltaic panels with nominal transparency of 20% and 110 W capacity. The control of the photovoltaic greenhouse as an energy hub was approached as an optimization problem with the aim of minimizing the energy purchased from the grid. The simulation results indicate that the system is capable of balancing power transactions within the microgrid, thus enabling electromobility and, at the same time, achieving an average energy saving of up to 41%. Furthermore, it was found that the case of slow charging of the electric vehicle at night was less demanding on the battery system than fast charging during the day in terms of abrupt power transitions and average state of charge of the battery system, 61% vs. 53%, respectively. Empirical results also demonstrated the negative impact of soiling generated by agricultural activity on the performance of solar panels. For a period analyzed of three years, an average annual production loss of 6.8% was calculated.

Keywords: agrivoltaic; photovoltaic; greenhouse; renewable energy; microgrid; sustainable agriculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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