Last year the solar greenhouse built by the French developer Tenderness has achieved record results both in terms of agricultural and electrical yield.
In April 2017, French renewable energy developer Tenergie commissioned its first solar greenhouse based on its proprietary Tenairlux technology, in Mallemort, in the Bouches-du-Rhône region of southern France. The plant was built with 265 W panels and has an installed power of 2,1 MW.
Sun for vegetables and for us
Four years after commissioning this 33.000 m² solar greenhouse, the feedback is absolutely positive. In the first year, 2020, of green asparagus cultivation, the yield was four tons per hectare.
The production of green electricity was 3,1 GWh: "it is the equivalent of the consumption of 700 families, excluding heating", writes the French company in a detailed report.
Solar greenhouse: what to expect in the future?
The yield, already considerable, seems destined to grow further: for 2022 the agricultural yield expected should increase to nine tons per hectare.
The president of Tenergie Nicolas Jeffrain, he is satisfied. "It is an efficient and innovative solar greenhouse. A particular arrangement of the photovoltaic modules allows, in particular, a better diffusion of light, better ventilation and a more uniform temperature."
Some data on the solar greenhouse
Among the advantages of this solar greenhouse concept, the reduction of the shadow cast on the ground (36% against 52% of a conventional greenhouse). The light is best exploited with filtering polycarbonate, also improving the uniformity of the light on the ground.
Tenergie intends to develop around 30 such greenhouses within three years.
A dozen projects are currently being studied. The company is also working on other possible synergies with the agricultural world, in particular on projects related to anaerobic digestion.
