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Thermal Model
The thermal modeling of the greenhouse involved assessing the passive heating and cooling of the greenhouse to gain better insight into what the photovoltaic system would require. Performance of the thermal mass and interior temperature of the greenhouse was estimated over varying outside air temperature using CIMIS data for one year. The following equations were solved using ode45 of MATLAB, looping through each hour of the outside air data:
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Assess passive heating and cooling (performance of 4mm polycarbonate panels)
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Transient energy balances of (1) interior air and (2) thermal mass of greenhouse
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MATLAB → ode45 → loop through outside temperature from CIMIS
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(3) Energy Required to maintain greenhouse interior air at 28 oC
Result:
Thermal modeling results of an hourly assessment of performance of greenhouse thermal mass and interior air temperature. It is observed that the temperature of the thermal mass and interior air mirror above the outside air temperature; the thermal mass is always warmer than the interior air.
Estimated energy required to maintain the greenhouse at a desired 28 OC. It is observed that the greenhouse will need a heating system during the colder periods of the year, and will not necessarily need an expensive cooling system.
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