Renewable Energy 135 (2019) 88e97

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Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Simulation of thermal performance of solar greenhouse in north-west

of Iran: An experimental validation
Hassan Ghasemi Mobtaker a, *, Yahya Ajabshirchi a, Seyed Faramarz Ranjbar b,
Mansour Matloobi c
a
Department of Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Faculty, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
c
Department of Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Application of solar energy in greenhouse heating during the cold months could be of great importance.
Received 18 March 2018 In this study, six shapes of greenhouses including: uneven span, even span, single span, vinery, quonset
Received in revised form and arch type were compared from solar radiation availability point of view. A dynamic model was
7 September 2018
developed to predict all the internal greenhouse temperatures including inside air, soil surface and north
Accepted 1 October 2018
Available online 4 October 2018
wall temperatures for the selected greenhouse. In this model the radiation component of the heat
transfer was used along with the other heat transfer modes. Experimental validation to obtain required
parameters was conducted in single span greenhouse (in east-west orientation). The results showed that,
Keywords:
Greenhouse
as compared to other shapes, the single span shape greenhouse oriented in east-west orientation
Optimum design received about 8% more solar radiation during all the months in a year. It was also determined that using
Solar energy brick wall at north side of the greenhouse can reduce radiation energy loss in this type of greenhouse.
Dynamic model The average value of the cover transmittance was estimated to be 0.76 during the period of the exper-
iment. A good agreement was obtained comparing measured and predicted values.
© 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction
In recent years due to the environmental pollution caused by
greenhouse gas emissions, the use of renewable energy sources is
steadily increasing. Renewable energy technologies such as solar,
wind and geothermal types are clean sources of energy that have a
much lower environmental impact than conventional energy
technologies [1]. Solar energy is one of the most significant posi-
tions among the various renewable energy sources that can be used
in different fields. One of the important applications of solar energy
is its use in agricultural greenhouses heating.
Nowadays, use of solar greenhouses in agricultural production
has increased. Greenhouse is a structure which provides the opti-
mum condition for plants' growth especially during cold seasons. In
cold climates, heating the greenhouses is one of the most energy
consumed during the cold season. The rate of thermal energy
consumption by a greenhouse depends highly on the amount of
* Corresponding author. Complete Postal Address, Department of Biosystems
Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.
E-mail address: mobtaker@ut.ac.ir (H.G. Mobtaker).
solar radiation entered into the greenhouse [2]. In this case,
greenhouse roof shape and orientation are most important physical
elements which determine the rate of solar energy availability in-
side the greenhouse. Calculation of total solar radiation received by
greenhouse and simulation of its climate, provide use of automatic
control system in greenhouse.
Considerable studies have been conducted on solar energy col-
lecting efficiency of greenhouses and predicting its inside conditions
of greenhouse [3e11]. Pieters and Deltour [12] used a semi one-
dimensional climate model to study the greenhouses solar energy
efficiency under Western European conditions. The results showed
that greenhouses catch about two thirds of the incoming solar radi-
ation and the collecting efficiency was found to be higher in summer
than winter. In another study Gupta and Chandra [13] developed a
time dependent model to simulate the thermal behavior of green-
house components in India. The results showed that, Gothic arch
shape in East-West orientation with north insulated wall was the best
chose in northern India. In a study conducted in India, Sethi [14]
developed mathematical model for computing solar radiation avail-
ability and inside air temperature for five most commonly used
greenhouses. The results indicated that uneven-span shape

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.10.003
0960-1481/© 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
 H.G. Mobtaker et al. / Renewable Energy 135 (2019) 88e97 89

Nomenclature T temperature (
C)
Tc,ave average calculated values of T (
C)
A area (m2) Ti,c ith calculated values of T (
C)
Ai area of walls and roofs (m2) Ti,m ith measured values of T (
C)
C specific heat (J kg1 K1) Tm,ave average measured values of T (
C)
Eb blackbody emissive power (Wm2) t time (s)
F view factor () V wind velocity (ms1)
Fn ratio of solar fraction falling on the north wall over x north wall thickness (m)
the total incoming radiation at the same time () Z soil depth (m)
Ft ratio of the transmitted solar radiation falling on
walls/roof inside the greenhouse to the total Greek letters
transmitted solar radiations inside the greenhouse at ac cover absorptivity of solar radiation ()
the same time () act cover absorptivity of thermal radiation ()
hco convection heat transfer coefficient (Wm2 K1) ag soil absorptivity of solar radiation ()
Ib beam radiation (Wm2) aw wall absorptivity of solar radiation ()
Id diffuse radiation (Wm2) awt wall absorptivity of thermal radiation ()
J radiosity of surface (Wm2) b slope of the surface with horizontal (
)
k thermal conductivity (Wm1K1) g surface azimuth angle (
)
M total mass (kg) D declination angle of the sun (
)
Q radiation heat transfer from surface (W) ε emissivity ()
qco convection heat transfer (W) qi angle of incidence (
)
qinf infiltration heat transfer rate (W) qz zenith angle (
)
qkg conduction heat transfer from the soil surface to the r reflectivity of the ground ()
soil sub-layers (W) s StefaneBoltzmann constant (Wm2K4)
qnet
r net thermal radiation rate (W) U hour angle (
)
qsc total solar radiation absorbed by cover (W) Ф latitude angle of a place (
)
qsg total solar radiation absorbed by soil (W)
qsw total solar radiation absorbed by wall (W) Subscripts
R surface resistance (m2) a ambient
Rb the ratio of beam radiation on the tilted surface to c cover
that on a horizontal surface () g ground soil
Rd view factor of tilted surface to the sky () r room air
Rr view factor of tilted surface to the ground () sky sky
Si(t) total solar radiation on various walls and roofs w north wall
(Wm2) wi inner surface of the north wall
Sti total transmitted solar radiations inside the wo outer surface of the north wall
greenhouse (W) 0 underground
St total solar radiation falling on the greenhouse cover
(W)

greenhouse receives the maximum solar radiation at all latitudes.
Bug et al. [15] investigated the impact of the phase change
material (PCM) on greenhouse temperature and humidity. For this
propose north wall was made with phase change material (PCM) as
a storage medium in eastewest oriented greenhouse. The results
indicated that the PMC usage in greenhouse can increase energy
efficiency. Du et al. [16] developed a simulation model of a green-
house equipped with a heat-pipe heating system for estimating the
air and soil temperatures inside the greenhouse. The results
showed that the developed model can predict the thermal perfor-
mance of the greenhouse in a good agreement with the experi-
mental data. Dynamic greenhouse climate model previously
validated in European greenhouses was used by Mashonjowa et al.
[17] in Zimbabwe. The model was developed based on the heat and
mass balances of the different components of a greenhouse. This
model was found to have a close fit between measured and pre-
dicted values. Joudi and Farhan [18] presented a dynamic model to
predict the internal air and soil temperatures in an innovative
greenhouse. Their model consisted of five elements by considering
heat exchange between non-cultivated greenhouse components.
The resultant model offered a good relationship between the pre-
dicted and measured values. Yu et al. [19] developed a prediction
model based on the least squares support vector machine (LSSVM)
model for prediction of the temperature in a Chinese solar green-
house. The results indicated that its predictions of the temperature
were accurate; therefore it was chosen as a suitable method for
predicting the Chinese solar greenhouse temperatures.
The objective of the study was to develop a dynamic thermal
model for estimating internal temperatures in a single span
greenhouse. In this model the radiation component of the heat
transfer was used along with the other heat transfer models. The
model was validated using experimental data acquired from an
east-west oriented, single span greenhouse.
2. Materials and methods
This study was conducted in Tabriz city located in the north-
west part of Iran, at geographical location of 38
100 north latitude
and 46
180 east longitude. Six shapes of greenhouses including:
uneven span, even span, single span, vinery, quonset and arch type
were selected for comparison from solar radiation availability point
of view. The length, width and height of greenhouses were kept the
same and they were investigated for both eastewest and
northesouth orientation.
90 H.G. Mobtaker et al. / Renewable Energy 135 (2019) 88e97

2.1. Solar radiation incident on greenhouse cover

The hourly variations of solar radiation on a horizontal surface

in typical day of each month (The typical day of each month is given
day which its daily extraterrestrial radiation is closest to the
monthly average extraterrestrial radiation) were collected from the
Islamic Republic of Iran Meteorological Office data center (IRIMO).
Using correlation introduced by Erbs et al. [20], total solar radiation
was splitted into its diffuse and beam components. Using Eqs. (1) Fig. 1. Front and side views of the greenhouse.
and (2) the total solar radiation on any walls and roofs of green-
house and total solar radiation falling on the greenhouse cover
surface were calculated [2,21,22]: shape. This is because of its high solar radiation availability in cold
season. The photographs of the greenhouse which was used in this
Si ðtÞ ¼ Ib Rb þ Id Rd þ ðIb þ Id ÞrRr (1) study are shown in Fig. 1.
X
St ¼ Si ðtÞAi (2)
2.4. Thermal modeling of the greenhouse
which Rb can be calculated as [23,24]:
In order to simulate the internal temperatures (air, soil and the
cosqi inner surface of the north wall), thermal energy balance equations
Rb ¼ (3)
cosqz for different components of the greenhouse must be determined. In
this study, greenhouse components were divided into four ele-
which the qi and qz are angle of incidence and zenith angle, ments including: the soil layer, north wall, internal air and green-
respectively which can be calculated as: house cover and energy balance equations for these elements were
written as:
qi ¼ cos1 ½sin Фðsin d cos b þ cos d cos g cos u sin bÞ
þ cos Ф ðcos d cos u cos b  sin d cos g sin bÞ
þ cos d sin g sin u sin b (4) 2.4.1. Soil layer
The major part of transmitted solar radiation receives by soil
surface. The energy balance equation for soil surface can be written
qz ¼ cos1 ½sin Ф sin d þ cos Ф cos d cos u (5) as [28]:
Rd and Rr are the view factors to the sky and view factor to the
dTg
ground of tilted surface, respectively. These factors can be calcu- Mg Cg ¼ qsg þ qnet
r;g þ qco:rg  qkg (8)
lated as:
dt
The total solar radiation received directly by the greenhouse soil
1 þ cosb surface (qsg) is shown as:
Rd ¼ (6)
2
qsg ¼ ag ð1  Ft ÞSti (9)
1  cosb
Rr ¼ (7) Some researchers ignore the radiative exchange within green-
2 house components [16,23,29,30]. In this study the radiation
network method was used to calculate radiation heat transfer be-
tween greenhouse cover, soil surface and north wall [31]. Also it
was assumed that radiation energy was neither absorbed nor
2.2. Radiation transmission of cover
emitted by the inside air. According to Fig. 2, for three mentioned
surface, this method can be written as:
As mentioned, radiation incident on a greenhouse cover include
three components. For calculation of beam radiation transmission,
Fresnel and Bouguer's law was used. The angular distribution of
isotropic diffuse and radiation reflected from the ground is un-
known; therefore the preceding analysis application cannot to be
used. For this propose an equivalent angle for beam radiation was
defined that gives the same transmittance as for diffuse radiation.
This equivalent angle is 60
[24].

2.3. Solar radiation loss

A part of solar radiation which is entered inside the greenhouse

decayed as long wave radiation to the ambient. The concept of total
solar fraction (Ft) and solar fraction for north wall (Fn) were sug-
gested to calculate of these radiation losses [25]. In this study for
determining these parameters, 3Deshadow analysis in AutoeCAD
was used [26,27].
According to past methodology, an east-west orientation, single
span greenhouse with north brick wall was selected as an optimum Fig. 2. Radiation network for greenhouse components.
 H.G. Mobtaker et al. / Renewable Energy 135 (2019) 88e97 91

  
Ebc  Jc qsc ¼ ac St þ act Sti ðð1  Ft Þ 1  ag þ Fn ð1  aw Þ (20)
Qc ¼ ;
Rc
The components of the net thermal radiation rate on the
Ebg  Jg greenhouse cover is the radiation heat transfer between green-
Qg ¼ (10)
Rg house cover with soil surface and north wall and the radiation heat
Ebw  Jw transfer between greenhouse cover and the sky which can be
Qw ¼ ; written as [15]:
Rw
h  i
r:c ¼  sAc εc Tc  act εsky Tsky
qnet 4 4
 Qc (21)
Ebc ¼ εc sTc4
Ebg ¼ εg sTg4 ; (11)
Ebw ¼ εw sTwi
4 Tsky ¼ 0:0552ðTa Þ1:5 ; Ta in ðKÞ (22)

Others equations which were introduced in Eq. (19) are

Ebc  Jc Jw  Jc Jg  Jc [14,28,33]:
þ þ ¼ 0;
Rc Rcw Rcg
Ebg  Jg Jc  Jg Jw  Jg qco; rc ¼ Ac hco:rc ðTr  Tc Þ (23)
þ þ ¼0 (12)
Rg Rcg Rwg
qco:ca ¼ Ac hco:ca ðTc  Ta Þ (24)
Jc  Jw Jg  Jw Ebw  Jw
þ þ ¼ 0;
Rcw Rwg Rw

hco:rc ¼ 1:95ðTr  Tc Þ0:3 ; ðTr  Tc Þ  11:1 C (25)

1  εc
Rc ¼ ; hco:ca ¼ 2:8 þ 3ðVÞ (26)
Ac εc
1  εg
Rg ¼ ; (13)
A g εg
1  εw 2.4.3. North wall
Rw ¼ ;
A w εw Energy balance equation for north wall is given below
[31,34,35]:
1
Rcw ¼ ; dTwi
Ac Fcw ¼ qsw þ qnet
Mw Cw r;w  qco:wr  qco:wa (27)
dt
1
Rcg ¼ ; (14)
Ac Fcg
qsw ¼ aw Fn Sti (28)
1
Rwg ¼ ; h  i
Aw Fwg
r:w ¼  sAw εw Two  awt εsky Tsky
qnet 4 4
 Qw (29)
According to Eqs. (10)e(14) the net thermal radiation rate on the
greenhouse floor can be written as: qco; wir ¼ Aw hco:wr ðTwi  Tr Þ (30)

qnet
r:g ¼ Qg (15)
qco; woa ¼ Aw hco:wa ðTwo  Ta Þ (31)
The energy absorbed in soil surface by convection and loosed by
conduction is expressed as [18,32]: hco:rw ¼ 2:8 (32)
 
qco:rg ¼ Ag hco:rg Tr  Tg (16)  
Two  Ta 0:25
hco:wa ¼ 1:42 (33)
  x
kg Ag Tg  T0
qkg ¼ (17)
z

 0:33
hco:rg ¼ 1:52 Tr  Tg (18)
2.4.4. Greenhouse air
For inside air, only the convective heat transfer between inside
air and greenhouse components and heat loss due to ventilation or
infiltration were considered. Accordingly the flowing Eq. was used
2.4.2. Greenhouse cover [35]:
The energy balance equation for greenhouse cover is:
dTr
Mr Ca ¼ qco;rg þ qco;rg þ qco;rc  qinf (34)
dTc dT
Mc Cc ¼ qsc þ qnet
r;c þ qco:rc  qco:ca (19)
dt A computer program in MATLAB was development to solve the
The total solar radiation received by the greenhouse cover is energy equations. Initial input values for these equations are the
consisted of the solar radiation directly absorbed in outer surface of measured temperature of ambient, cover, soil and wall, wind ve-
the cover and the reflected solar radiation from the soil surface and locity and solar radiation on a horizontal surface. Also the constant
north wall. This equation can be written as [18]: terms in Table (1) were used for solution [31].
92 H.G. Mobtaker et al. / Renewable Energy 135 (2019) 88e97

Table 1
Constants used for solution of thermal model.
1X k  
MBE ¼ T  Ti;m (36)
Parameter Value Parameter Value k i¼1 i;c
Ac 31.25 Mg 7360
Ag 15.36 Mr 26.8 " #0:5
Aw 11.52 Mw 2777.5 1X k  2
Ca 1009 z 0.5 RMSE ¼ T  Ti;m (37)
Cc 840 ac 0.1
k i¼1 i;c
Cg 880 act 0.95
Cw 795 ag 0.86 Pk   
Fc-g 0.39 aw 0.91 i¼1 Ti;c  Tc;ave Ti;m  Tm;ave
r ¼ rhffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (38)
Fc-w 0.27 awt 0.85 Pk  2 ihPk  2 i
Fg-c 0.79 εc 0.94 i¼1 Ti;c  Tc;ave i¼1 Ti;m  Tm;ave
Fw-g 0.28 εg 0.93
kg 1 εsky 0.8
Mc 537.82 εw 0.94

3. Results and discussion

2.5. Experimental details
An experiment was conducted in an east-west oriented, single
span greenhouse without crop (15.36 m2 floor area) in Tabriz. The
greenhouse was covered with single glass (4 mm thickness). Solar
radiation incident on a horizontal surface outside the greenhouse
was measured at 1 min intervals during the sunshine hours with a
TES 1333 solarimeter (range 2000 Wme2, resolution 1 Wme2).
Temperatures of soil (average of two sensors placed on the green-
house floor), north wall (inside and outside of north wall at 1.2 m
height), inside air (average of two sensors placed inside the
greenhouse at 0.8 m height), ambient (placed outside the green-
house in shade at 1 m height) and cover (average of two sensors
placed on the greenhouse cover) were recorded over 1 min in-
tervals using nine sensors SHT11 (range of 40.0e123.8
C, Tem-
perature accuracy ±0.4
C). Wind speed outside the greenhouse
was recorded using Hotewire anemometer (YKe2004AH, range
0.2e20.0 ms1, resolution 0.1 ms1). Fig. 3 shows the locations of
the various measuring points inside and outside the greenhouse.
In order to predict the accuracy of the models, different statis-
tical indicators including mean percentage error (MPE), mean bias
error (MBE), root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coef-
ficient (r) were calculated based on evaluating data series. The
statistical indicators are given as below [36,37]:
! Ahamed et al. [11] reported that the solar radiation availability in the
1X k
Ti;c  Ti;m
MPE ¼  100
k i¼1 Ti;m
Solarimeter Temperature sensors Anemometer
Fig. 3. View of the greenhouse with experimental measuring points.
3.1. Solar radiation availability in different shapes and orientation
Total solar radiation that can be captured by outer surface of the
different shapes of greenhouse in a typical day of each month is
shown in Table 2. The results indicated that the single span shape
received the maximum solar radiation during all months of the year
(8% more as compared to other greenhouses). In cold climates such
as Tabriz, greenhouses were used mainly for crops production in
cold season; therefore single span greenhouse can be the best
choice for this region. The results also showed that quonset and
vinery shapes received the minimum solar radiation in the region.
In a study carried out in India, the performance of different shapes
of greenhouses was investigated. The results showed that uneven
span greenhouse was the most suitable shape from heating point of
view [38]. In another study in Canada, it was reported that the E-W
oriented multispan gable roof greenhouse would be energy effi-
cient for a large commercial greenhouse at high northern latitudes,
whereas an E-W oriented quonset shape would be energy efficient
for the single-span greenhouse [11].
In single span greenhouse maximum solar radiation was absor-
bed by south roof during each month (about 63% in summer and 54%
in winter). This result was expectable considering the highest area of
south roof and low altitude angle of the sun during the winter
months; which allows much beam radiation income through the
south roof. Similar results have been reported in studies [39,40].
single-span greenhouse increase linearly with the increase of roof
(35)
angle. It is due to increasing in surface area of south roof without
changing the span width and the height of the sidewall.
Using Fresnel and Bouguer's law radiation transmission through
greenhouse cover was calculated. For this purpose angle incidence
of beam radiation on walls and roofs of different greenhouses were
calculated at each hours in a typical day of months. The results
showed that solar transmittance of single span greenhouse cover
was the highest (on average 74%) indicating that solar trans-
mittance of cover depend mainly on its incidence angle. Al-Helal
et al. [41] reported that cover transmittance depends on the
spatial location within the greenhouse and on the altitude of the
greenhouse.
In Fig. 4 total inside solar radiation availability for single span
greenhouse in east-west and north-south orientation is shown. As
can be seen from Fig. 4, east-west orientation receives more solar
radiation during cold season. It is due to low altitude angle of the
sun in winter which allows much radiation income through the
south roof. In summer north-south has more radiation availability
as compared to east-west orientation. That must be because of high
altitude angle of the sun in summer which allows more radiation
interception from the eastern and western sections of greenhouse.
 H.G. Mobtaker et al. / Renewable Energy 135 (2019) 88e97 93

Table 2
Total solar radiation availability (MJ) outside of different greenhouse cover in typical day of each month.

Month Even span Uneven span Vinery Single span Arch Quonset

E-Wa N-S E-W N-S E-W N-S E-W N-S E-W N-S E-W N-S

17 Jan 479 434 503 482 448 431 539 511 529 468 458 448
16 Feb 550 558 583 572 516 517 628 605 612 601 531 535
16 Mar 654 676 686 691 604 626 743 730 730 741 634 648
15 Apr 772 792 782 809 765 803 843 846 849 865 736 760
15 May 976 1050 986 1075 987 1044 1109 1134 1107 1137 970 1008
11 Jun 1128 1164 1073 1183 1069 1153 1198 1251 1220 1260 1070 1117
17 Jul 1024 1042 975 1059 1001 1039 1101 1121 1099 1132 971 1000
16 Aug 944 964 932 986 918 959 1046 1048 1030 1053 894 927
15 Sep 884 939 926 965 833 920 1037 1027 991 1026 848 901
15 Oct 680 699 740 712 682 686 811 750 790 772 665 669
14 Nov 524 506 559 512 526 498 605 534 577 560 502 487
10 Dec 446 428 468 435 454 429 501 457 491 477 426 410
a
E-W: East-West, N-S: North-South.

E-W N-S
1000
Inside solar radiation availability (MJ)

800

600

400

200

Fig. 4. Effect of orientation on total solar radiation availability for single span greenhouse.

Papadakis et al. [42] reported that for the latitude of 37
580 N during The fraction falling on the north wall is the most important
the winter time, the east-west orientation is preferable to the compared to the other face, which gives the idea of storing this
north-south alignment. Sethi [14] reported that east-west orien- energy in a phase change material north wall [15]. Gupta and Tiwari
tation intercepts more solar radiation by moving to higher latitudes [21] reported that in east-west oriented greenhouses which built in
in winter months as compared to north-south orientation due to higher latitudes, solar radiation loss from north wall was high;
the proper greenhouse roof shape matched well with the local sun accordingly in higher latitudes such as Tabriz, using of brick wall on
altitude. north wall of greenhouse can be suggested. Using concept of Fn and
Ft effect of north wall on solar radiation availability and radiation
3.2. Solar fraction for north wall loss for each selected shape in east-west orientation were investi-
gated. It was revealed that using brick wall on the northern side of
Using concept of Fn and Ft, solar radiation loss from north wall single span greenhouse can reduce radiation energy loss by an
and other sections were computed. The result showed that the average of 68%.
value of Fn and Ft were maximum in winter months due to low The daily global solar radiation on north wall and Fn of the single
altitude angel of the sun. Fig. 5 shows total solar fraction for various span greenhouse in a typical day of each month is shown in Table 3.
shapes of east-west and north-south oriented greenhouses at a As can be seen from this Table, in winter months due to low altitude
particular time of typical clear days of winter and summer. The angle of the sun, solar radiation availability on north wall is low.
results showed that, the value of Ft was higher in the winter than Furthermore solar fraction for north wall in these months is high.
the summer; in other word less solar radiation is available for This means that use of brick wall on the north wall can reduce
thermal heating of the greenhouse in winter period. According to energy loss and increase energy availability inside the greenhouse.
section (3.1), though the single span shape received the maximum Moreover the north wall plays an important role in thermal insu-
solar radiation, the value of total solar fraction for this greenhouse lation of greenhouse and use of insulated wall reduces total energy
was higher than the other shapes. demand for greenhouse production.
94 H.G. Mobtaker et al. / Renewable Energy 135 (2019) 88e97

1.0 0.8
Even Uneven
Even Uneven
0.8 Vinery Singel
Total solar frac on

0.6 Vinery Singel

Total solar frac on

Arch Quonset
0.6 Arch Quonset

0.4
(a) 0.4

0.2 0.2

0.0
8 10 12 14 16 0.0
6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Time of day
Time of day

Winter Summer

1.0 0.8
Even Uneven Even Uneven
Vinery Singel Vinery Singel
0.8
Total solar frac on

Total solar frac on

0.6 Arch Quonset
Arch Quonset
0.6
0.4
(b) 0.4

0.2
0.2

0.0 0.0
8 10 12 14 16 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Time of day Time of day

Winter Summer
Fig. 5. Total solar fraction for various shapes of greenhouse in east-west (a) and north-south (b) orientation.

Table 3 To sum it up, EeW orientation can best suit the regions located
Solar radiation availability and solar fraction for north wall (MJ) for single span at high latitudes like Tabriz provided that reduction in radiation
greenhouse in typical day of each month.
loss was done via implementing some effective strategies held by
Month Solar radiation availability Solar fraction for Energy growers. This can be achieved for instance, selecting brick wall or
on north wall (MJ) north wall (MJ) saving (MJ) applying reflecting surface on the north wall.
17 Jan 58 206 148
16 Feb 60 195 135
16 Mar 81 180 99 3.3. Thermal model results
15 Apr 102 128 26
15 May 110 102 8
Fig. 6 shows the time courses of total solar radiation incident on
11 Jun 133 75 58
17 Jul 113 82 31 outside and inside the greenhouse cover on 29-11-2014 in a clear
16 Aug 94 130 36 sky condition estimated using Liu and Jordon formula. The
15 Sep 71 214 143 maximum solar radiation on the horizontal surface was measured
15 Oct 60 242 182 as 475 Wm-2. The solar intensity on the horizontal surface was used
14 Nov 49 245 196
10 Dec 56 204 148
to calculated solar radiation on the cover. The average value of the
cover transmittance was estimated to be 0.76 during the period of
the experiment. Several previous studies use an average value of
the cover transmittance. As mentioned before, the transmission of
In last column of Table 3 the amount of energy saving which can solar radiation through the greenhouse cover is a function of the
be achieved by using north brick wall is shown. It shows that the incoming radiation, cover thickness, refractive index, and extinc-
amount of energy saving was the highest in November and October. tion coefficient of the cover. It is clear that assuming an average
Tiwari et al. [43] reported that for greenhouses built in the northern value for cover transmittance would lead to a large error in the
hemisphere, solar radiation falling on the north wall inside the estimation of the solar radiation transmission into the greenhouse
greenhouse decreases particularly during the winter months and it [41].
might be compensated using brick wall at north side of the green- The variation of the measured values of inside air, soil surface,
house. In another study, covering the north wall with a reflecting inner surface of the north wall and ambient temperatures are
surface reduced the rate of radiation loss from this wall [27]. shown in Fig. 7. The results showed that the internal temperatures
 H.G. Mobtaker et al. / Renewable Energy 135 (2019) 88e97 95

14000 of greenhouse vary by the solar radiation intensity and reach

St (W) maximum values about 40 min after solar noon. The maximum
12000 Sti (W) inside air and inner surface of the north wall temperatures were
42.5
C and 53.7
C, respectively. The results also indicated that the
soil surface and inner surface of the north wall temperature plays a
10000
Solar Radiation (W)

significant role in raising inside air temperature. This is because of

high solar radiation intensity and high temperature of these com-
8000
ponents which leads to radiative and convective heat exchange
with the inside air. Joudi and Farhan [18] reported that soil surface
6000 heat exchange has a positive contribution to the internal environ-
ment of greenhouse.
4000 As discussed earlier, the value of Fn was maximum in winter
months due to low altitude angel of the sun. This means that the
2000 north wall received a great part of solar radiation transmitted into
the greenhouse which led to high temperature of inner surface of
the wall and stored it as a heat reserving medium. Berroug et al.
0
8 10 12 14 16 [15] investigated the thermal performance of a north wall made
with phase change material (PCM) as a storage medium in
Time of day (h)
eastewest oriented greenhouse and investigated the impact of the
Fig. 6. Total solar radiation outside and inside the greenhouse cover on 29-11-2014. PCM on greenhouse temperature and humidity. They reported a
phase change material north wall can be used for absorption and
reflectance of solar radiations.
60 Using Eqs. (6)-(32) and application of inputs and initial values,
Ti Tr, Twi and Tg were estimated. The measured air, soil surface and
Tg greenhouse cover temperature were regarded as the average
50 temperature of two points in center of greenhouse, center of floor
Twi
and center of roof, respectively (Fig. 3). The accuracy of the model
Ta was tested by comparing calculated values with measured values in
40
Temperature (°C)

the experimental greenhouse (Fig. 1). The comparison between

simulated and experimental values of Tr, Twi and Tg are shown in
30 Figs. 8e10. The results showed that the predicted and measured
values were in close agreement. The statistical indicators of models
are given in Table 4.
20 The minutely variation of the predicted and measured values of
inside air temperatures are shown in Fig. 8. It was observed that the
predicted and measured values were closely matched. The statis-
10 tical indexes of MPE, MBE and RMSE for this model
were 1.12%, 0.53
C and 2.82
C, respectively; indicating that the
developed model has been validated. It was found that the model
0 can predict greenhouse air temperature by a mean percentage error
8 10 12 14 16
of 1.12%. The correlation coefficient for the model was calculated as
Time of day (h) 0.90. However, this coefficient value for soil surface temperature
Fig. 7. Measured values of inside air, soil surface, inner surface of the north wall and was obtained as 0.98, showing that predicted and measured values
ambient temperatures for a typical winter day (29-11-2014). are strongly correlated. The MPE for this model was 6.07%. The best

50
Calculated Measured

40
Temperature (°C)

30

20

10

0
8 10 12 14 16
Time of day (h)
Fig. 8. Predicted and measured values of inside air temperatures.
96 H.G. Mobtaker et al. / Renewable Energy 135 (2019) 88e97

50
Calculated Measured

40

Temperature (°C)
30

20

10

0
8 10 12 14 16
Time of day (h)
Fig. 9. Predicted and measured values of soil surface temperatures.

4. Conclusion
60 Calculated Measured
In the current study, the amount of total solar radiation that can
50 be captured by the different greenhouses was investigated. For this
Temperature (°C)

40 propose six most commonly shapes of greenhouses including: even

span, uneven span, vinery, single span, arch and quonset type were
30 compared. Also a dynamic model was developed to predict all the
internal temperatures of selected greenhouse. Based on the results
20
of the investigations, the following conclusions were drawn:
10
1. The single span shape greenhouse at east-west orientation re-
0 ceives the maximum solar radiation during cold season.
8 10 12 14 16 2. Use of brick wall on the northern wall of the singleespan
Time of day (h)
greenhouse can reduce radiation energy loss by an average of
Fig. 10. Predicted and measured values of inner surface of the north wall
68%.
temperatures. 3. The inner surface of the north wall temperature plays a signif-
icant role in raising greenhouse air temperature.
4. A good agreement was taken between the measured and pre-
Table 4 dicted values of greenhouse internal temperatures.
Error analysis in modeling for internal temperatures of greenhouse.

Statistical indicators Inside air Soil surface North wall Acknowledgment

MPE (%) 1.12 6.07 0.90
MBE (
C) 0.53 1.73 0.31 The financial support provided by the University of Tabriz, Iran,
RMSE (
C) 2.82 2.19 2.00 is duly acknowledged.
r 0.90 0.98 0.98

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