SPRHOUT (Solar PoweRed Horticultural Off-grid UniT) – the first economically viable off-grid energy system to power horticultural projects, boosting the transition towards sustainable food provision

Project Information

SPRHOUT

Grant agreement ID: 827952

DOI

10.3030/827952

Project closed

EC signature date 20 July 2018

Start date 1 July 2018

End date 31 December 2018

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

SOLHO B.V.
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SPRHOUT (SPRHOUT (Solar PoweRed Horticultural Off-grid UniT) – the first economically viable off-grid energy system to power horticultural projects, boosting the transition towards sustainable food provision)

Reporting period: 2018-07-01 to 2018-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Recent studies found that there is need to increase food production, mostly in the developing world, by 50% within 2030 to address food security. At the same time, water scarcity represent an important issue for agriculture development in arid and desert regions.
Greenhouse based horticultural projects (GBHP) represent a valuable solution, compared to outdoor vegetable farms, as they can offer dramatic savings in water consumption and a longer growing season even in areas with extreme climate conditions. However, greenhouse horticulture development in those areas is hampered by poor infrastructures, e.g. absent/unreliable electricity grids and gas networks.
The SPRHOUT technology, developed by SOLHO, represents a solution to such issue, since it allows the deployment of totally off-grid greenhouses in the so-called “sunbelt area”. It is a cutting edge technology, based on an innovative Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system called TESMOD, which uses solar energy to fulfil the power needs of a greenhouse facility. The SPRHOUT solution is modular and can be applied both to small horticultural projects and to large greenhouse facilities.
The Phase 1 project objectives were to:
- Optimize the energy system in order to validate its performances;
- Perform dynamic modelling simulation of the SPRHOUT in order to assess the performance of the control algorithm.
In addition to the above, other project objectives included business feasibility tasks in order to:
- Conduct a strategic market analysis aimed at carrying out cost benefit analysis in target application scenarios;
- Refine the Business Model to define the optimal pricing strategy;
- Review the financial model so as to ensure that all life-cycle costs are fully reflected.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the Phase 1 of the project the following results have been obtained:
- The first low-Temperature SPRHOUT proof of concept (PoC) has been built. This allowed to simulate and test the performances of the solution, and will enable us to verify the test results in an actual application scenario.
- A dynamic model of the SPRHOUT PoC has been developed in the Modelica language. Preliminary simulations have been performed to test the control strategy during extreme working conditions. The results obtained show that the control strategy allows us to maintain the working fluid temperature at the outlet of the solar field approximately constant. Furthermore, the storage system is effective in decoupling the solar field and the Power Unit, which can thus be operated at its nominal conditions notwithstanding the environmental disturbances.
- A high-Temperature TESMOD test-rig has been built and tested. The tests successfully demonstrated the technical feasibility of the high-T TESMOD module, in particular with respect to charging-discharging efficiency.
In order to consolidate the SPRHOUT business feasibility, the following results have been obtained:
- The viability of the proposed solution has been assessed through interactions with stakeholders
- The SPRHOUT Business Model has been refined consolidating the value proposition
- Cost Benefit Analysis in target application scenarios have been conducted, defining the profitability of the proposed technology for our customers with respect to competing solutions
- A detailed market analysis has been conducted to investigate market opportunities in target countries
- The Business Plan has been updated including the pricing strategy and the commercialization strategy
- A detailed financial plan has been defined, including 5-year economic/financial projections and sensitivity analysis

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

By means of our interactions with potential customers, we managed to consolidate the SPRHOUT value proposition based on the following unique purchasing factors:
- Off-grid operations 24 hours a day. This is a unique selling point which enables our prospective customers to address the requirements of their customers in the sun-belt region, that is companies, investment funds and governments which are willing to purchase and manage greenhouses also in arid and desert regions. Since greenhouse-based projects in desert regions are poorly developed, the proposed solution opens huge market opportunities for manufacturers, which have already received purchase orders from their customers but cannot fulfil them due to the missing enabling technology.
- Significant savings on operational costs. Investigation based on real business cases were held to define the economic competitive advantages of the SPRHOUT solution. It has been calculated that a SPRHOUT-powered greenhouse can lead to important economic benefits compared to a standard grid-connected greenhouse.
- Environmental impact, with significant reduction of CO2 emissions from avoiding the use of natural gas and fossil fuels.

SOLHO's Proof of Concept built in France