Agrivoltaic agrotunnel

Climate change and sever weather is the primary challenge facing year-round berry production in Canada. Our solution to address this challenge is to couple an indoor farm and solar photovoltaic shielded outdoor farm, which is net zero energy to produce berries year round with high yields, nutrient, and sensory quality. The systems can be can be attached to the retail locations to provide zero-mile food supply. Our solution will provide maximum yields ,enhanced nutritional and sensory quality with minimum production expenses. Furthermore, the system will be modular scalable, and adaptable to various locations and extreme climate conditions. The core idea is to couple an agrotunnel with agrivoltaics. An agrotunnel is an earth and vegetation covered tunnel that will hold high-density vertical aeroponic hybrid systems using high-efficiency spectrally optimized LED grow lights. We already have experimental evidence this works physically, but the economics can be a challenge because of the electricity costs depending on the location. To improve the economics and decrease the electricity costs, the agrotunnel and surrounding area will be covered with adjustable partially-transparent solar photovoltaic arrays. These arrays are described as agrivoltaics due to the co-location of agriculture and photovoltaics. Furthermore, the arrays will be used as shields to protect the outdoor plants from extreme weather, create a microclimate to conserve water, and provide all of the electricity needed to run the lights, water pumps and heat pumps inside of the agrotunnel. This makes the system portable to most locations within Canada. The strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, ground cherries and salmon berries will be monitored with computer vision systems and also be tested in outdoor columns that are exposed to three levels of partially-transparent solar cells in agrivoltaic arrays to find the optimal conditions for outdoor use and compare them to the growth performance available internally.

This project is funded by the Weston Family Foundation as part of the Homegrown Challenge.

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The Team[edit | edit source]

Joshua Pearce, PhD, Western University

Co-applicants:

Soodeh Nikan, PhD, Western University

Raymond Thomas, PhD, Western University

Come for a Visit[edit | edit source]

• Please follow our biosecurity protocols -

Collaborators[edit | edit source]

• Kim Parker, Food Security Structures Canada
• Greg Whiteside, Food Security Structures Canada
• Janice Kelsey, SolarCities
• Tabatha Siu, Vertical Green
• Jody Spangler, Adragone Aeroponics

WIRED[edit | edit source]

The agrivoltaic agrotunnel is part of Western Innovation for Renewable Energy Deployment (WIRED)

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News[edit | edit source]

1. Harvest season is upon us, and the future of Canadian farming is ripe with possibility. (And on that farm, there was a… farmer, engineer, and robotics expert!) Global Newswire
2. Northern News
3. Home Grown Challenge
4. C'est la saison des récoltes et l'avenir de l'agriculture canadienne regorge de possibilités. (Et dans cette ferme, y'a... des exploitants agricoles, des ingénieurs, des experts en robotique!) Le Lizard
5. Joshua Pearce: Boosting food productivity and power by optimizing the use of sun Western Engineering News
6. Agriculture et énergie : alliées ou ennemies? ICI Radio Canada
7. Radio Canada Mini
8. Western hosts inaugural Cleantech Conference CTV

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Progress on the First Agrivoltaic Agrotunnel in the World[edit | edit source]

The Agrotunnel is on campus and being finalized for experiments to commence January 2024.

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  The start of the fabrication of agrotunnel (Obviously in Canada).

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  The start of the fabrication of agrotunnel (Obviously in Canada).

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  Building the outside of the agrotunnel.

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  Building the agrotunnel wall - first half.

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  Exterior shell of the agrotunnel finished.

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  Construction of second half of agrotunnel underway.

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  Interior painted shield paint and temporary travel walls installed.

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  The first half of the agrotunnel arrives at ICFAR to become part of WIRED.

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  The second half of the agrotunnel arrives at ICFAR.

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  Two halves of the agrotunnel installed together!

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  Interior finishes inside agrotunnel at Western University

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  Agrotunnel at Western assembled and finalizing exterior.

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  Agrivoltaic agrotunnel completed with POSCAS units in front. Photo credit Kathryn Hollinrake and the Weston Family Foundation.

In Operation[edit | edit source]

How tos[edit | edit source]

Deliverables[edit | edit source]

Ensuring completion of all by Dec. 31, 2024 (Pearce)

1. Complete a study on the most effective design and installation approach for photovoltaic systems that can be integrated next to or into the roof of the agrotunnel, based on energy modeling for agrivoltaic-agrotunnel (Nima - model, Koami- PV)
2. Complete a study and validation on the design of a computer vision-based system for automatic detection of disease, fruit, leaves, and sizes (Kimia, Georgio, Soodeh, artificial- Alex)
   1. Classification Of Strawberry Diseases and Quality Using Different Machine Learning Methods
3. Implement and test the computer vision-based automated monitoring tools on indoor-grown plants (Kimia, Amita)
4. Build, implement and test a system for automated monitoring of plants grown outdoors (via agrivoltaics) (Uzair, Koami)
5. Measure and calculate the growth, yield, greenhouse gas emissions, nutritional, organoleptic, and functional properties of plants grown in the system (Amita, Eric, Raymond - engineering: Ali, Max)
6. Complete a study on the impact of 24-7 spectrally tuned lighting on growth, yield, greenhouse gas emissions, nutritional, organoleptic, and functional properties of plants grown in the system (Amita, Eric, Raymond - engineering: Ali, Max)
7. Complete a study on the impact of photovoltaic cells with various transmission values and/or spectrally selective outdoor agrivoltaics (Uzair, Eric)
8. Complete a life cycle analysis study for the Shepherd Phase system (Shafquat,Nima, Koami, Riya)
9. Complete life cycle economic analysis of a commercial scale agrivoltaic agrotunnel (Amita, Shafquat, Kashish)

Outreach[edit | edit source]

• Outreach for Agrivoltaic Agrotunnel
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  Art exhibit by Cheuk Lam Belle Li at the Northern Tornados Project, also exhibited at Western's Science Rendezvous to over 3,000 children in 2024.

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  The Three Little Men in the Woods (or how to grow strawberries in the winter)