ISHS Acta Horticulturae 691: International Conference on Sustainable Greenhouse Systems - Greensys2004
THERMAL SCREEN EVALUATION IN SOILLESS CUCUMBER CROP UNDER GLASSHOUSE |
| Authors: | E. Brajeul, D. Lesourd, D. Loda |
| Keywords: | winter climate management, energy costs, energy savings, climatic |
| Abstract:
The objective of this study was to determine the value of the SLS 10 (Ludvig Svensson) thermal screen in cutting energy costs in a first soilless cucumber crop under heated glasshouse. The thermal screen was mostly used during the night in the 2002 trial and was used intensively during both day and night in the 2003 trial. In the 2002 trial, the thermal screen mostly closed on the crop during the night didn’t lead to any significant difference in ambient temperature nor relative humidity in comparison with the treatment without a screen. However, its use for 63 % of the time led to an average night temperature decrease of 9°C in the heating pipes, 30 % energy savings and had no effect on fruit quality nor yield. In the 2003 trial, the thermal screen closed on the crop during both day and night didn’t lead to any significant difference in climatic parameters in comparison with the treatment without a screen. However, its use for 78 % of the time led to an average temperature decrease of 12°C in aerial heating pipes, 41 % energy savings but also a reduction in early fruit yield, which can be linked to a lower light intensity inside the glasshouse with a thermal screen. These trials enable us to calculate a profit earning capacity over a period of 3 to 5 years for a thermal screen in a soilless cucumber crop. | |
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files) | |
