CFD Analysis of Photovoltaic Greenhouse Cooling System Through Natural Convection as a Nature-Based Solution to a Sustainable Agriculture in Niger, Sahel Region

Abstract

The use of solar photovoltaic technology coupled with plant-based evaporative coolers in cooling down greenhouses is regarded as one of the greenest technology to attain a more sustainable agriculture even in adverse weather conditions such as in the Sahel. The aim of this study was to investigate the cooling effect of PV powered eco-friendly coolers onto a greenhouse microsystem. With the help of a weather station, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and solar irradiance data from inside and outside greenhouse were collected and analyzed. ANSYS fluent software was used to simulate the flow patterns under various weather events. When exposed to the highest solar irradiation event (1355.6 w/ m2, 34.3 C and 71% relative humidity), the greenhouse cooling system could create a drop of 4.9 C and an increase of 15% relative humidity. The lowest temperature attained in the greenhouse was 15.7 C (at night) whereas the highest temperature (in the afternoon) was 37.8 C against 40.8 C outside. Flow patterns showed a well-distributed heat around crop’s coverage area in the greenhouse. Energy production for cooling averaged around 4199.016 Wh/day despite the observation of 7620.792 Wh/day of energy loss due to full battery state. Optimization is necessary for cost-effectiveness of the greenhouse cooling system.