SOLAR GREEN HOUSE NOTES
Sunlight is generally considered a plentiful resource; the exceptions highlight the importance of solar energy to agriculture.
Agriculture and horticulture seek to optimize the capture of solar energy in order to optimize the productivity of plants.
Greenhouses convert solar light to heat, enabling year-round production and the growth of specialty crops and other plants not
naturally suited to the local climate. Various strategies are commonly used to extend the spring and fall growing seasons by a few
weeks.
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Solar greenhouses (SGH) differ from standard greenhouses where energy is collected from the Sun and stored for use when the Sun is not shining. Greenhouses tend to overheat when the sun shines and is too cold during winter nights. A solar greenhouse stores energy in some medium other than air during sunny weather. The best solar greenhouse cools the air as needed when the sun shines and heats the air when needed. This cooling and heating process needs to be done with a minimum input energy from external sources other than the Sun.
From my studies of solar greenhouses, I have concluded that the best method for storing and releasing heat in solar greenhouses is the Underground Heating and Cooling System (SHCS) described below. Simply put, the SHCS method is capable of storing a large amount of energy in the rocks and soil under the plantation beds by condensing water vapor into warm moist air into the water, with much heat being released which is then stored in rocks , Soil and water under Sowing beds .. That is, the hot humid air of the SGH enters the rocks / soil at one end of the SGH and fresh dry air exits the rocks / soil at the other end. When the SGH air is fresh and dry, the opposite is true. The high water vapor (moisture) in the SGH comes from the perspiration of the plants; 90% of the water entering the roots of plants transpires from the leaves as water vapor in the air. Many energies are expended by plants to extract water from the soil, used to transport nutrients to the leaves and to convert liquid water to vapor from leaf stomata. The SHCS stores much of that energy in the rocks / soil under the seed beds, condensing the steam back into the water. SHCS is an integrated system that involves plants in the process of maintaining more constant temperature and humidity in the SGH. Another way of describing SHCS is that it is a man-made "weather system" that provides advantageous "climate" in the air around the plants, cooling it down and reducing moisture when necessary and heating it and increasing humidity when necessary.
If local farmers can not afford to own solar greenhouses on their farms, a community solar greenhouse could rent space to local farmers in the winter. Or a neighborhood solar greenhouse could be built and managed by a neighborhood to grow your winter vegetables. Next, I outline the plans for an 18 'x 32' cooperative or SGH neighborhood using SHCS.
Some families may want a smaller SGH in their backyard. Hence, we also sketch the plans of a 10 'x' 20 '(or shorter) back-yard SGH using SHCS. This smaller greenhouse is a good approach as an SGH test using SHCS.
A SGH can be hot to use at peak summer. However, the SHCS SGH described below cools the greenhouse during hot weather, which may allow for use in daylight saving time. In any case, a solar greenhouse can be used to initiate transplants for an early summer garden and transplant an outside garden in the greenhouse in late summer or early fall.