Solar panels keep greenhouses cooler in summer, let the sun through in winter
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A close-up of the greenhouse roof reveals the elevated positioning of the lenses
This Basque Country greenhouse has been fitted with solar panels and lenses which, combined, help limit the temperature in summer without loss of sunlight in winter
Article Summary
Spain's ULMA Agrícola consortium and Tecnalia research center have developed a new type of photovoltaic solar panel for greenhouses that can generate electricity without an adverse effect on the crops grown within, while additionally providing cooling in summer. The system is designed to exploit the annual oscillation - the variation in the height of the sun's path across the sky over the course of the year. In theory, no solar radiation is compromised over winter, but surplus radiation can be diverted to electricity-generation during summer.
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