Abstract
• STPV-integrated greenhouses improved tomato yields while maintaining plant health. • 69% transparent c-Si STPV achieved the highest and most consistent yield gain (+38%). • Heat pump retrofits eliminated gas use with only 1.5 × higher electricity demand. • Agrivoltaic STPV supplied 13% of annual electricity with minimal lighting penalties. • Combined STPV-heat pump cut CO2e emissions by 71.7% in cold-climate greenhouses. In agrivoltaic controlled environmental agriculture, semi-transparent photovoltaic (STPV) modules are incorporated into greenhouses to provide sustainable energy for operations. For the first time, this study evaluates the performance of STPV technologies integrated into tomato greenhouses in southern Ontario through experimental agronomic investigations and three energy, economic, and environmental simulation scenarios: i) conventional gas-heated, ii) heat pump-based, and iii) agrivoltaic-heat pump-based greenhouses. STPV configurations tested included crystal silicon with 44% and 69% transparency, as well as with luminescent solar concentrators (53% and 69% transparency), and red and blue thin-film (50% transparency). The agrivoltaic systems maintained stable leaf chlorophyll content and comparable growth trends relative to the control, however 69% transparent crystal silicon PV improved yield the best by 38%. EnergyPlus modeling results indicated while heating loads were nearly three times higher than cooling loads, replacing the gas heater with a heat pump fully eliminated fossil fuel consumption, and increased electricity use by only about 1.5 times. Integrating the selected 69% STPV system with a heat pump enabled fully electrification of an agrivoltaic greenhouse. The agrivoltaic system supplied approximately 13% of the total annual electricity demand. Although this increased costs 5% relative to subsidized gas, the costs were stabilized and the carbon emissions were reduced by 71.7%, outperforming the heat-pump-only retrofit with 67.9% reductions. Overall, the results demonstrated that rooftop agrivoltaic integration combined with heat pump electrification is a technically feasible and environmentally effective pathway toward low-carbon greenhouse operation in northern climates like Canada.
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Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
The 69% transparent crystal silicon STPV improved tomato yield by 38% relative to the control.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume0 - Treatment
- 69% transparent crystal silicon PVe1
- Outcome
- yielde1
- Direction
- improvede1
- Value
- 38%e1
- Comparator
- controle2
- Setting
- southern Ontarioe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“integrated into tomato greenhouses in southern Ontario”
e1“69% transparent crystal silicon PV improved yield the best by 38%”
e2“maintained stable leaf chlorophyll content and comparable growth trends relative to the control”
Claim · model-written summary
Agrivoltaic systems maintained leaf chlorophyll content and growth trends comparable to the control in tomato.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume0
- Treatment
- agrivoltaic systemse2
- Outcome
- leaf chlorophyll contente2
- Direction
- maintainede2
- Qualifier
- comparable growth trendse2
- Comparator
- controle2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“integrated into tomato greenhouses in southern Ontario”
e2“The agrivoltaic systems maintained stable leaf chlorophyll content and comparable growth trends relative to the control”
Claim · model-written summary
EnergyPlus modelling gives heating loads nearly three times higher than cooling loads in the greenhouse.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e3“heating loads were nearly three times higher than cooling loads”
Claim · model-written summary
Replacing the gas heater with a heat pump fully eliminated fossil fuel consumption in the simulated greenhouse.
- Treatment
- replacing the gas heater with a heat pumpe4
- Outcome
- fossil fuel consumptione4
- Direction
- eliminatede4
- Comparator
- gas heatere4
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e4“replacing the gas heater with a heat pump fully eliminated fossil fuel consumption, and increased electricity use by only about 1.5 times”
Claim · model-written summary
Replacing the gas heater with a heat pump increased electricity use by only about 1.5 times in the simulated greenhouse.
- Treatment
- replacing the gas heater with a heat pumpe4
- Outcome
- electricity usee4
- Direction
- increasede4
- Value
- only about 1.5 timese4
- Comparator
- gas heatere4
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e4“replacing the gas heater with a heat pump fully eliminated fossil fuel consumption, and increased electricity use by only about 1.5 times”
Claim · model-written summary
The agrivoltaic system supplied approximately 13% of total annual electricity demand.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e5“The agrivoltaic system supplied approximately 13% of the total annual electricity demand”
Claim · model-written summary
The integrated system increased costs by 5% relative to subsidized gas.
Not reportedTaxonTreatment
Verbatim
e6“Although this increased costs 5% relative to subsidized gas”
Claim · model-written summary
Costs were stabilized under the integrated system.
Not reportedTaxonTreatmentComparator
Verbatim
e7“the costs were stabilized”
Claim · model-written summary
The combined STPV-heat pump system reduced CO2e emissions by 71.7%.
Not reportedTaxonComparator
Verbatim
e1“the carbon emissions were reduced by 71.7%”
e2“Combined STPV-heat pump cut CO2e emissions by 71.7% in cold-climate greenhouses”
Claim · model-written summary
The heat-pump-only retrofit reduced carbon emissions by 67.9%.
Not reportedTaxonComparator
Verbatim
e1“the carbon emissions were reduced by 71.7%”
e2“outperforming the heat-pump-only retrofit with 67.9% reductions”
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See all 10 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.