Design Guidelines for Luminescent Solar Concentrator Greenhouses in the United States

Abstract

Agrivoltaic greenhouses combine controlled environment agriculture and photovoltaics in one plot of land to simultaneously address the global challenges of renewable energy and sustainable food production. Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) benefit these systems by providing additional design flexibility, tuning light transmission for plant growth while generating electricity. Herein, design guidelines for LSCs in agrivoltaic greenhouses are determined given the two competing priorities of light utilization, crop yield and energy generation. Using a comprehensive model, the impact of LSC design choices on the greenhouse environment, energy generation, crop yield, and economic value in 48 locations across the United States is evaluated. It is shown that the solar cell coverage ratio and the greenhouse's heating demands determine the energy offset provided by the LSC. For improving crop yield, luminophore selection should maximize transmitted red light. The sensitivity of the economic value to crop yield, thus dictating luminophore selection for optimizing plant growth, is demonstrated. LSC greenhouses are as profitable as conventional greenhouses generally for states below 40 °N. Future improvements to LSC manufacturing may allow previously unprofitable LSC greenhouses to become economically viable in northern states. This work showcases the broad design space and strong potential for LSCs in agrivoltaics.