Vertical farm assignment

Solar and biomass power generation

1
 η = 50
Conventional crop cultivation
%
• From visible part
• From all solar spectrum to of solar spectrum • From
visible part of the soalr to photosynthetically Overall primary energy to
photosyntheticall
spectrum
• (reference [1]) y active spectrum
active spectrum to
crops
Crops crop conversion efficiency
• (reference [1])
3.655 %
η = 43 %
• (calculation in the
next slide) η = 17
%

Vertical farming of crop

• From LEd to η = 17 %
• From solar energy to
η = 40 % photosynthetically
active radiation Crops
electricity through
PV
received by plant.
(reference [2]) • From Overall primary energy to
• (reference [1]) • Conversion factor of
recent LED.
photosynthetically
active spectrum to
crop conversion efficiency
crops
• (reference [3])
η = 80 % 1.088 %
η = 20 %

2
Efficiency calculations
Last efficiency calculation 

The last efficiency calculated is the same for the two processes and it takes into consideration the chemical processes from the photons (input) to the crop
(output or outcome). In the efficiency calculation has been taken into consideration the following aspects [1]:

Conventional crop cultivation efficiency calculation 

• Photons in the visible field (λ in between 400 & 700 nm), which promote photosynthesis, account for about 43% of the overall solar radiation at the
ground level. [1]

• At low levels of sunlight (irradiance < 200 W/m2), the rate of photosynthesis in plants is proportional to the intensity of the sunlight, but then it levels
off and does not increase further at higher irradiance. Thus plants can only use 50% of the peak solar irradiance of up to 400 W/m2. In practice, for the
efficiency calculation we have assume an irradiance of 400 W/m2. Since this efficiency is based on an assumption, the value calculated vary according
with the irradiance considerated. [1]

Vertical farming crop efficiency calculation 

• Among artificial lighting systems, LEDs present the maximum PAR efficiency (80% – 100%). [2]
• Currently, the conversion factors of typical high-pressure sodium and fluorescent lamps are, respectively, around 0.38 and 0.26. However, the
conversion factor of recent LED is around 40%, which will be further improved the forthcoming years. [3]

3
References
[1] Slide of the course
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3949401/ - Photosynthesis under artificial light: the shift in primary and secondary metabolism
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3881955/ - Resource use efficiency of closed plant production system with artificial light: Concept,
estimation and application to plant factory;