Innovative Indoor Farm for Intensive Food Production Using Photovoltaic Vacuum Glazing and Smart Technologies (SmartGreens)

The overall aim of the SmartGreens project is to design, develop and field trial of an innovative indoor farm for crop production. This proposed sustainable modular farm, SmartGreens uses photovoltaic (PV) insulating glazing combined with smart technologies to reduce the expensive carbon miles caused by mass food importation and therefore minimise the UK's overall carbon footprint. SmartGreens will also significantly reduce insecticide, fertiliser, and water usage. It will allow year-around crop production with continuous crops, achieving 5-6 crop cycles per year compared to just 1-2 cycles of conventional agriculture.

The SmartGreens farm requires considerably less energy than traditional greenhouses, thus reducing its reliance on conventional fossil fuel energy resources. Innovative transparent PV vacuum glazing panels providing insulation and electricity to power the heating and ventilation systems. To enhance food production, the hydroponic growing system consists of a water reservoir/nutrient, growing trays and LED lighting. In terms of indoor climatic control, SmartGreens utilises a highly efficient, compact thermoelectric heat pump powered by PV-DC will be used to provide additional heating in winter and a phase change material 'ChainStore' device for passive cooling during extreme hot seasons. In addition, a CO2 carbon capture/release device will be employed to allow increased CO2 for plant's photosynthesis to increase production. The SmartGreens farms will enable the production of a range of crops including tomatoes, lettuce, kale, spinach, basil, carrots, onions, cucumbers, mushrooms, and other valuable crops with high nutritional value, helping to improve the diets and thus long-term health of consumers.

The SmartGreens project will be beneficial for the farming industry and society in general. The project will create new job opportunities in food/agriculture, engineering, maintenance and operating services and energy sectors and also in the national/international trading businesses. The introduction of new sustainable farm technology is key to improving productivity by investing in the current and future agricultural industries.With the year-around production enabled by the highly efficient greenhouse, SmartGreens will enable the same amount of food to be grown in a smaller area. In the UK this will release land that can be used for tree planting to absorb carbon dioxide, thus helping the country to achieve zero nett carbon emissions by 2050, as well as providing more habitats for wildlife and places for outdoor recreation that engender improved mental health.