INVENTORY OF MORE SIGNIFICANT PARAMETERS WHICH CAN BE USEFUL TO CHARACTERIZE ENERGY REQUIREMENTS FOR HEATING

Q_H = k' A_S . (t_GH - t) - Q_S (W)

Q_H is the energy requirement of the greenhouse, k' is the over all heat consumption coefficient, A_S is the surface area of the greenhouse, t_GH is the inside air temperature, t the outside temperature and Q_S is the amount of solar radiation, which comes into the greenhouse and is converted to sensible heat.

The energy requirement of the greenhouse can be influenced by changing the parameters in the above equation. The surface area A_S of the greenhouse can be decreased by building multi-span greenhouses instead of single span greenhouses with the same total ground area.

For characterizing a greenhouse, the relation between surface area and ground area A_S/A_G is a more significant parameter.

A small single span greenhouse has a factor of A_S/A_G = 1. 8 to 2.0 and a large multispan greenhouse has a factor of A_S/A_G = 1.2 to 1.5.

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