DESIGN AND OPERATION OF A LOW-ENERGY CONSUMPTION PASSIVE SOLAR AGRICULTURAL GREENHOUSE

The design, construction, and operation of a prototype 1000 m2 passive solar agricultural greenhouse are described. The greenhouse has been designed in order to reduce heat losses and increase useful solar gain s on a daily and seasonal basis. The passive elements of the greenhous e are a mass storage wall located on the north side and a network of e arth-to-air heat exchangers buried in the greenhouse. Monitoring of th e greenhouse for a 2-year period has shown that the passive systems ha ve offered energy equal to 35% of the heating requirements of an ident ical conventional greenhouse. Also, the cooling potential of the earth -to-air heat exchangers has been found to be very important. This proj ect is a Solar Demonstration Programme of the European Communities.