Recently, the Innovation Team of Plant Environmental Engineering of Protected Agriculture at the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, in collaboration with the Institute of Facility Agriculture, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, has made new progress in enhancing the environmental control capabilities of greenhouses and the full-spectrum efficient utilization of solar energy. The study achieved selective absorption and utilization of sunlight wavelengths by using light-absorbing particles and heat-carrying fluids, further expanding the capability for light and temperature regulation within greenhouses and improving the full-spectrum utilization efficiency of solar energy. The related findings have been published in Renewable Energy.

Based on its application characteristics, the solar spectrum can be divided into the Plant Active Spectrum (PAS) (300~800 nm) and the Heat Active Spectrum (HAS) (800~1500 nm). The PAS is absorbed by plants for photosynthesis, while the HAS entering the greenhouse can cause high indoor temperatures, constituting an energy component that is detrimental to plants. Therefore, the HAS needs to be blocked and reused before entering the greenhouse. This approach is of great significance for reducing greenhouse energy consumption and improving the full-spectrum utilization efficiency of solar energy.

This study proposes a greenhouse covering layer with particles sandwiched between double-layer films. The test results indicate that the airflow-particle spectral frequency divider can transmit PAS to absorb HAS, ensuring the normal growth of facility-grown plants while reducing the energy consumption for greenhouse cooling. Moreover, the collected thermal energy provides a power source for daily greenhouse heating. Meanwhile, filling the double-layer film with polyethylene particles during winter nights can enhance the thermal insulation performance of the covering layer. This greenhouse covering layer can reduce the cooling load by 32% and the heating load by 18%, respectively. These findings provide new solutions for the design of energy-saving greenhouses.

This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Special Fund for Introducing Scientific and Technological Talents of the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Linkage: https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.renene.2025.124498