Solar Panel Greenhouse
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Glenn Alers has seen up to 50 percent more plant growth inside his LUMO solar panel covered greenhouses. The special panels contain strips of low-density silicon photovoltaics (PV) to generate electricity. A thin layer of luminescent material on the back side of the panels converts green light to red light, the most efficient light for photosynthesis.
“I came up with the idea about 5 years ago and spent about 3 years in greenhouse trials to ensure no negative impact on the plants,” says Alers, Soliculture, Inc. “Since then we have been scaling up the concept and now have installed the first commercially viable, mass-produced, luminescent solar concentrator.”
Alers notes that others have attempted to put conventional solar panels over greenhouse crops and seen a production drop.
“We looked at how much light we can block before we impact plant growth,” says Alers.
Converting green light to red was a key to success. More red light meant less stress on the plant. Disease stress decreased, and plants developed faster and produced fruit longer. A 6-week production cycle would take only 5 weeks, while cucumbers that would produce for 8 weeks produced for 10 under the panels.
“A stand-alone solar array will generate about triple the power, but you can’t grow anything under it,” says Alers. “Ours is a tradeoff between power generation and food crop performance with neutral-to-positive impact on production. With high value crops, you can easily double your revenue.”
Unfortunately, the technology is only economical for larger greenhouse operations. When large areas are under glass, using the LUMO panels instead of common greenhouse glazing makes economic sense, says Alers.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Soliculture, 54 Old El Pueblo, Scotts Valley, Calif. 95066 (ph 831-234-6056; info@soliculture.com; www.soliculture.com).
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Solar Panel Greenhouse BUILDINGS Miscellaneous Glenn Alers has seen up to 50 percent more plant growth inside his LUMO solar panel covered greenhouses The special panels contain strips of low-density silicon photovoltaics PV to generate electricity A thin layer of luminescent material on the back side of the panels converts green light to red light the most efficient light for photosynthesis “I came up with the idea about 5 years ago and spent about 3 years in greenhouse trials to ensure no negative impact on the plants ” says Alers Soliculture Inc “Since then we have been scaling up the concept and now have installed the first commercially viable mass-produced luminescent solar concentrator ” Alers notes that others have attempted to put conventional solar panels over greenhouse crops and seen a production drop “We looked at how much light we can block before we impact plant growth ” says Alers Converting green light to red was a key to success More red light meant less stress on the plant Disease stress decreased and plants developed faster and produced fruit longer A 6-week production cycle would take only 5 weeks while cucumbers that would produce for 8 weeks produced for 10 under the panels “A stand-alone solar array will generate about triple the power but you can’t grow anything under it ” says Alers “Ours is a tradeoff between power generation and food crop performance with neutral-to-positive impact on production With high value crops you can easily double your revenue ” Unfortunately the technology is only economical for larger greenhouse operations When large areas are under glass using the LUMO panels instead of common greenhouse glazing makes economic sense says Alers Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Soliculture 54 Old El Pueblo Scotts Valley Calif 95066 ph 831-234-6056; info@soliculture com; www soliculture com
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