• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Español
  • English
  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
CDE Almería – Centro de Documentación Europea – Universidad de Almería

CDE Almería - Centro de Documentación Europea - Universidad de Almería

Centro de Documentación Europea de la Universidad de Almería

  • HOME
  • WHAT´S ON
    • EU BULLETINS
    • EU NEWS
    • Activities
    • EU Calls and Awards
    • Radio Program «Europe with You»
  • DOCUMENTATION
    • Bibliographic Collection
      • Almería EDC Digital Collection
      • UNIVERSITY OF ALMERIA LIBRARY
    • Documentation by topic
    • EU Media Collection
      • Web Space
      • MEDIATHEQUE REPOSITORY
  • Europe on the net
    • Institutions
    • EU Representation in Spain
    • European information network of Andalusia
    • EU official journal
  • ABOUT US
    • Presentation
    • People
    • Contact

Greenhouses join plants in the energy conversion business

Inicio » Noticias UE » Medio Ambiente » Energy » Greenhouses join plants in the energy conversion business

16-12-2021

Until recently, there were opaque photovoltaic panels, and there was transparent glass. Innovative nanomaterials bring photovoltaics and transparency together in greenhouse panels that convert the sun’s light into electricity, while augmenting plant photosynthesis.

Meeting the world’s growing food and energy demands while mitigating climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Agriculture and buildings are among the greatest consumers of energy – and consequently, generators of emissions. Although greenhouse farming can significantly increase food production per hectare relative to open field agriculture, it is more energy intensive. But thanks to the large surface areas bathed in the sun’s glow, greenhouses are also in a unique position to take advantage of sunlight to make cleaner electricity – with huge global benefits for farming and the environment. With the EU-funded PanePowerSW project, researchers are bringing their transparent solar glass product, PanePower Solar Window, to market, for everything from greenhouses to commercial building windows.

Boosting energy production in more ways than one

Solar cells convert the sun’s light to electricity by absorbing photons from large regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The photons energise photovoltaic (PV) materials, knocking off some electrons and causing electric current to flow. The PV market has been evaluating luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) since the 1970s, as a way to enhance the efficiency of electricity production. LSCs absorb photons that cannot energise existing PV materials and re-emit them at wavelengths that can. PanePowerSW harnessed spectrum-shifting LSCs to enhance solar cell efficiency, but also to increase the photosynthetic active radiation for plants. Using transparent materials that allow photons to pass through is counterintuitive; photon absorption is required to generate electricity. According to Nick Kanopoulos, Brite president and CEO and PanePowerSW coordinator, “the great success of PanePowerSW is its novel LSC ultraviolet (UV)-shifting nanomaterials. We divert photons in the UV range not useful for either PV panels or for growing plants and retransmit in the red and blue regions of the spectrum that are useful for both. This allows visible light to pass through the panels, while augmenting electricity production and photosynthesis, making the technology ideal for greenhouse applications.”

Higher yields, lower costs, fewer emissions

PanePowerSW optimised the LSC nanomaterials formulation and designed the transparent solar glass product to meet criteria for universal market uptake. The product was validated through deployment at a pilot greenhouse. Field testing showed a reduction in energy operating costs of up to 80 % resulting from electricity sales to the grid – a figure expected to be even higher in countries with greater solar irradiation. “The grape cultivation in our pilot greenhouse reported a negative CO2 footprint per kilogram of grapes produced: a world first for agriculture, with uninhibited scaling potential,” Kanopoulos adds. A fully automated state-of-the-art production line for inkjet printing of nanomaterials will enable Brite to deliver its solar glass at a cost significantly lower than previously possible. Kanopoulos adds: “The manufacturing technology can be easily installed with existing manufacturing line tools, making our proposition highly scalable, and all materials used for manufacturing our solar glass are environmentally friendly and fully recyclable. In short, PanePowerSW can ensure a sustainable food supply for the world, with a positive environmental impact.” PanePowerSW could soon be energising the global greenhouse farming market, helping a steady supply of sustainably produced foods reach our tables.

More information

CORDIS – Results in Brief

 

Publicaciones relacionadas:

EU greenhouse gas emissions kept decreasing in 2018, largest reductions in energy sector In a first, the EU produced more energy from renewables than fossil fuels in 2020 Greek island Tilos picks up award for clean energy transition Evolution of electriciy prices GEOTHERMICA, the new European initiative

“This is a space for debate. All comments, for or against publication, that are respectful and do not contain expressions that are discriminatory, defamatory or contrary to current legislation will be published”.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Publicaciones relacionadas

EU greenhouse gas emissions kept decreasing in 2018, largest reductions in energy sector In a first, the EU produced more energy from renewables than fossil fuels in 2020 Greek island Tilos picks up award for clean energy transition Evolution of electriciy prices GEOTHERMICA, the new European initiative

Footer

Logotipo en negativo del Centro de Documentación Europea de Almería

CDE Almería
Edificio Parque Científico-Tecnológico (Pita)
Planta: 1ª, Despacho: 29
04120. Ctra. Sacramento s/n. Almería (Spain)
Teléfono: (+34) 950 015266

HOME
NEWS
DOCUMENTATION
EUROPE ON THE NET
ABOUT US

LEGAL NOTICE
PRIVACY POLICY
COOKIE POLICY
ACCESSIBILITY

SITEMAP
HELP CENTER

Copyright © 2022 CDE Almería · Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

<p>El Centro de Documentación Europea de la Universidad de Almería utiliza cookies propias y de terceros para facilitar al usuario la navegación en su página Web y el acceso a los distintos contenidos alojados en la misma. Asimismo, se utilizan cookies analíticas de terceros para medir la interacción de los usuarios con el sitio Web. Pinche el siguiente enlace si desea información sobre el uso de cookies y como deshabilitarlas. ajustes</p>

Politica de privacidad

El Centro de Documentación Europea de la Universidad de Almería utiliza cookies propias y de terceros para facilitar al usuario la navegación en su página Web y el acceso a los distintos contenidos alojados en la misma. Asimismo, se utilizan cookies analíticas de terceros para medir la interacción de los usuarios con el sitio Web. Pinche el siguiente enlace si desea información sobre el uso de cookies y como deshabilitarlas. <a href="/politica-de-cookies" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Más información</a>

Cookies estrictamente necesarias

Las cookies estrictamente necesarias tiene que activarse siempre para que podamos guardar tus preferencias de ajustes de cookies.

Básicamente la web no funcionara bien si no las activas.

Estas cookies son:

  • Comprobación de inicio de sesión.
  • Cookies de seguridad.
  • Aceptación/rechazo previo de cookies.

Si desactivas esta cookie no podremos guardar tus preferencias. Esto significa que cada vez que visites esta web tendrás que activar o desactivar las cookies de nuevo.

Cookies de terceros

Esta web utiliza Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager y Yandex Metrika para recopilar información anónima tal como el número de visitantes del sitio, o las páginas más populares.

Dejar estas cookies activas nos permite mejorar nuestra web.

¡Por favor, activa primero las cookies estrictamente necesarias para que podamos guardar tus preferencias!

Política de cookies

Pinche el siguiente enlace si desea información sobre el uso de cookies y como deshabilitarlas. Más información