Solar Greenhouses for Whole Year of Green Crop

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Those people that have a passion for gardening might think that the gardening season is too short for them for achieving their goals regarding fruits, vegetables and fresh flowers. In case you feel the same, take into consideration the solar greenhouses that offer you the possibility to grow plants all year-round.

In order for you to achieve your gardening dreams, all you need is a protected canopy, and controlled temperatures and humidity.

Solar GreenhousesThe first difference that you may notice regarding the traditional greenhouses and the solar greenhouses is the design that they have. The truth is that all of the greenhouses absorb solar energy, but in case of the solar greenhouses, the solar energy can also be stored as heat for the night or when there is no sun.

In order to achieve the perfect climate for the plants, your greenhouse design should include a heat sink. As the sunlight enters the greenhouse windows, the heat could be stored in water, rocks, concrete and so on. And when the Sun disappears and the external temperature decreases, the stored heat is released back in the air in order to keep the temperatures constant.

Regarding the solar greenhouses, there are 2 major types: the passive solar greenhouses and the solar electric greenhouses. Majority of the passionate gardeners will go for the passive solar greenhouse design. Their advantage is that they are quite inexpensive, easily installed and they return the investment almost immediately.

The solar panels cost higher and are usually used in case of commercial greenhouses that produce crops of higher value or that holds a larger number of plants for sale. In order to motivate people to opt for renewable energy, there are rebates and tax incentives, and these could also help people lower the initial costs of the PV systems.

Before you actually start with a smaller passive plan for your greenhouse, or you jump right into the more expensive plan, there are some factors that are worth to be taken into consideration, such as the location of the greenhouse in order to minimize the shading, the cost of the crops, operational costs (including water, compost, fertilizer, additional energy for heating and cooling in case the solar panels cannot be used), the measures taken for energy conservation, floor heating systems, maintenance, insulation, and some other factors.

In case you carefully prepare the plans, you have the possibility to do gardening the entire year. This planning is a lot easier to do in case you know what to do and which are the most optimal methods, so you might need some additional research. The learning process could be facilitated by Ploughcroft Solar Training to make sure that you know what you are doing and also to help you design the solar greenhouse as optimally as possible.