Open-Source Indoor Horizontal Grow Structure Designs

Agrivoltaic agrotunnels are currently designed for high-density grow walls that are not amenable to bush berries or root crops. Commercial grow bins provide deeper substrates for produce with more root systems but have high costs per unit growing area. To overcome the economic limitations of grow bins, this study applies the distributed manufacturing open-source design paradigm to develop four designs for low-cost open-source structures. The designs target root vegetables and bush fruit specifically to be adopted by remote communities with limited or no outdoor growing environment to offset the market price for imported fresh produce. The indoor growing designs provide the necessary structure for supporting grow lights and grow bins and enable the transplanted berry plants to flower and produce fruits. They provide a comparable amount (110 L) or more of grow volume from 106 to 192 L. The water reservoir volume for the commercial system (62 L) and grow area (0.5 m³) is surpassed by all new designs that range from 64 to 192 L and 0.51 to 0.76 m³, respectively. These superior properties are possible with material costs for all four designs that save more than 90% of the economic cost of the commercial systems.

See also

The Western Innovation for Renewable Energy (WIRED) system is currently under construction to test out new open source methods to reduce PV systems costs and enable novel forms of agrivoltaics including the world's first agrivoltaic agrotunnel.

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  The Agrivoltaic Potential of Canada
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  Net Zero Agrivoltaic Arrays for Agrotunnel Vertical Growing Systems: Energy Analysis and System Sizing
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  Regenerative Agrivoltaics: Integrating Photovoltaics and Regenerative Agriculture for Sustainable Food and Energy Systems
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  Strawberry agrivoltaics in Canada: Comparing uniform thin film and non-uniform crystalline silicon semi-transparent solar photovoltaic modules in controlled environment agriculture
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  Optimizing Agrivoltaic Shading for Climate-Resilient Crop Production: Amaranth Performance Under Current and Future Climatic Scenarios
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  Photosynthetically active radiation complexities in agrivoltaic policy mandates: Insights from controlled environment yields under semitransparent photovoltaics
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  Should Agrivoltaics Ever Be Decommissioned? How Agrivoltaics Bolster Farm Climate Adaptation Even When Unpowered
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  Transparency effects in agrivoltaics lettuce cultivation using uniform/non-uniform semitransparent photovoltaic modules in controlled environments
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  Impacts of Type of Partial Transparency on Strawberry Agrivoltaics: Uniform Illumination Thin Film Cadmium-Telluride and Non-uniform Crystalline Silicon Solar Photovoltaic Modules
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  Additional value of non-electricity generating services (co-benefits) provided by non-conventional dual use solar photovoltaic systems: A PRISMA review
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  Open-Source Photosynthetically Active Radiation Sensor for Enhanced Agricultural and Agrivoltaics Monitoring
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  Effects of Spectral Ranges on Growth and Yield in Vertical Hydroponic–Aeroponic Hybrid Grow Systems for Radishes and Turnips
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  Financial Analysis of Agrivoltaic Sheep: Breeding and Auction Lamb Business Models
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  Experimental impacts of transparency on strawberry agrivoltaics using thin film photovoltaic modules under low light conditions
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  Open-Source Indoor Horizontal Grow Structure Designs
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  Greenhouse applications of solar photovoltaic driven heat pumps in northern environments
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  Solar Energy Modelling and Proposed Crops for Different Types of Agrivoltaics Systems
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  Maximizing Biomass with Agrivoltaics: Potential and Policy in Saskatchewan Canada
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  Energy Policy for Agrivoltaics in Alberta Canada
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  Agrivoltaics in Ontario Canada: Promise and Policy
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  Energy Modeling and Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis of Greenhouses for Tomato Cultivation Utilizing the Waste Heat of Cryptocurrency Miners
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  Advancing Agrivoltaics within the U.S. Legal Framework: A Multidimensional Assessment of Barriers & Opportunities
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  Low cost climate station for smart agriculture applications with photovoltaic energy and wireless communication
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  Design and Implementation of 3-D Printed Radiation Shields for Environmental Sensors
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  Design of a low-cost mobile multispectral albedometer with geopositioning and absolute orientation
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  Parametric Open Source Cold-Frame Agrivoltaic Systems
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  Impacts of Location on Designs and Economics of DIY Low-Cost Fixed-Tilt Open Source Wood Solar Photovoltaic Racking
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  Open-Source Design and Economics of Manual Variable-Tilt Angle DIY Wood-Based Solar Photovoltaic Racking System
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  Solar photovoltaic wood racking mechanical design for trellis-based agrivoltaics
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  Open-Source Vertical Swinging Wood-Based Solar Photovoltaic Racking Systems
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  Vertical Free-Swinging Photovoltaic Racking Energy Modelling: A Novel Approach to Agrivoltaics
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  Optimal inverter and wire selection for solar photovoltaic fencing applications
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  The potential for fencing to be used as low-cost solar photovoltaic racking
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  Do agrivoltaics improve public support for solar? A survey on perceptions, preferences, and priorities
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  Greener Sheep: Life Cycle Analysis of Integrated Sheep Agrivoltatic Systems
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  Life cycle assessment of pasture-based agrivoltaic systems: Emissions and energy use of integrated rabbit production
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  Conceptual Design and Rationale for a New Agrivoltaics Concept: Pastured-Raised Rabbits and Solar Farming
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  Integrating solar energy with agriculture: Industry perspectives on the market, community, and socio-political dimensions of agrivoltaics
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  A First Investigation of Agriculture Sector Perspectives on the Opportunities and Barriers for Agrivoltaics
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  Open-Source Script for Design and 3D Printing of Porous Structures for Soil Science
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  Agrivoltaic potential on grape farms in India
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  Aquavoltaics: Synergies for dual use of water area for solar photovoltaic electricity generation and aquaculture
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  The potential of agrivoltaic systems
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  Solar Photovoltaic Powered On-Site Ammonia Production for Nitrogen Fertilization
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  Open-Source Photometric System for Enzymatic Nitrate Quantification
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  Agrivoltaics Canada

• Coal with Carbon Capture and Sequestration is not as Land Use Efficient as Solar Photovoltaic Technology for Climate Neutral Electricity Production
• Dual use of land for PV farms and agriculture literature review
• sheep
• Israeli white plastic reflectors

• A Farmer's Guide to Going Solar (NREL)
• German guidelines: https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/content/dam/ise/en/documents/publications/studies/APV-Guideline.pdf
• 2021 review
• Miskin, C.K., Li, Y., Perna, A., Ellis, R.G., Grubbs, E.K., Bermel, P. and Agrawal, R., 2019. Sustainable co-production of food and solar power to relax land-use constraints. Nature Sustainability, 2(10), pp.972-980.
• Retrofitting solar parks for agrivoltaics
• Shading PV
• Alexis' talk at American Solar Grazing Association2021

In the News

Agrivoltaics in Canada

1. Solar Sheep, Alberta (https://www.solarsheep.ca/)
2. Sun Cycle Farms, Alberta (https://suncyclefarms.com/)
3. Golden Leaf Agrivoltaics, Ontario (https://goldenleafagrivoltaics.ca/)
4. The Lara Cost Farm, Ontario (https://thelaracosta.com/)
5. Arnprior Solar, Ontario (https://www.edf-re.com/project/arnprior-solar/)
6. Lewis Land & Stock, Ontario (https://solargrazing.org/asga-call-29-don-lewis-from-lewis-land-stock-of-ontario-canada/)
7. Nanticoke Solar, Ontario (https://www.opg.com/stories/hundreds-of-grazing-sheep-helping-to-keep-opgs-nanticoke-solar-facility-in-trim-shape/)
8. Western University’s Western Innovation for Renewable Energy Deployment (WIRED) (https://www.appropedia.org/Western_Innovation_for_Renewable_Energy_Deployment_(WIRED))
9. Orchard, Middlesex, Ontario
10. Solar Grazing Map https://solargrazing.org/map/

• Agrivoltaics Canada
• Open-source hardware