Almeria is the place with the highest concentration of greenhouses devoted to horticultural production in the world. For this reason, the province has recently hosted the first Andalusian Congress on Agriculture, Energy and Water, allowing experts from various parts of the world to meet and discuss the potential of photovoltaic energy and its possible applications to intensive agriculture.
One of the speakers of the University of Almeria, Professor Ángel Carreño, stressed that the use of photovoltaic panels in greenhouses could lead to Almeria's agriculture becoming more technified, "since it will allow the use of high energy-consuming systems at a low cost. An example of this could be the implementation of cooling systems, which are currently not very common in Almeria's greenhouses due to the high electricity consumption. Another option is the possibility of increasing the number of hours of light during the winter by using PAR radiation LEDs."
In the near future, according to Professor Carreño, photovoltaic panels "will be smaller, will have a better performance and will also be cheaper, so the production of energy for self-consumption in greenhouses, and even in the annexed homes of farmers, will be more profitable than connecting to the grid." In this way, and covering just 1% of the greenhouse surface with lightweight flexible solar panels, producers will be able to self-supply enough electricity to meet their needs.
"The growth possibilities in greenhouses are huge," said the speaker, since the energy needs could be covered with just 1% of the shading done with panels on the roof, and we could multiply this figure by 5 and even by 10 without the crop yields being affected. It is worth keeping in mind that during much of the year, Almeria has an excess of solar radiation, which is why we need to apply shading and covers to greenhouses.
Source: teleprensa.com