A Light and CO2 Controller to Optimize Energy Efficiency in Commercial Greenhouses Phase II

Supplemental lighting is necessary for mid-winter production of greenhouse crops in many climate zones, done in a way that promotes quality, consistency, and marketable quantity. The goal of the proposed work is to achieve a working prototype of a marketable greenhouse environment controller that coordinates the daily light integral and carbon dioxide concentration in plant production facilities in a way suitable for and optimized for installing in commercial greenhouses. Our Phase I software development and testing has prepared us for the next step, to design, fabricate and market test an advanced prototype ready for an anticipated move to market. Relationships between the light integral and CO2 for spinach, basil and arugula, will be developed to expand the knowledge base that underlies the control program to a wide variety of crops. The control program will be enhanced to include a capability to permit greenhouse air temperature to rise by up to 3 C during midday, with lower air temperature later in the day to compensate. Temperature averaging can apply to the times of year when CO2 is of benefit but weather is just warm enough, or the supplemental lighting adds just enough heat, that modest ventilation is required to maintain the blueprint air temperature.