Italian research team deploys 121-sensor monitoring platform for agrivoltaic greenhouse

en.Wedoany.com Reported - An Italian research team has deployed an integrated system combining microclimate monitoring, irrigation control, and photovoltaic monitoring in an agrivoltaic greenhouse, completing a one-year field validation that provides a scalable technical foundation for digital twin-driven adaptive greenhouse management.

The research was conducted under the EU-funded REGACE project, with the trial site located in a pilot agrivoltaic greenhouse in Pontinia, central Italy. The area features a typical Mediterranean climate, with annual global horizontal irradiation exceeding 1600 kWh/m², winter temperatures around 4°C, and summer temperatures around 31°C. This double-span arched greenhouse covers 180 square meters (18 m × 10 m), oriented along the east-west axis, with a suspended single-axis tracking agrivoltaic system installed on the upper portion, covering approximately 50% of the roof area.

The photovoltaic section has an installed capacity of 4.8 kW, consisting of 64 custom semi-transparent bifacial monocrystalline PERC (Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell) modules, each with a rated power of 75 W, mounted at a height of 3.2 meters above ground level. The greenhouse interior is divided into four experimental zones: PV-E (under east-side PV modules), REF-E (east-side unshaded control), PV-W (under west-side PV modules), and REF-W (west-side unshaded control). This layout enables direct comparison of crop performance between PV-shaded and unshaded areas under identical structural, irrigation, and management conditions. During the first operational year (2025–2026), the team cultivated multiple crop cycles including zucchini, lettuce, tomato, eggplant, beet, and fennel.

The monitoring system comprises 121 sensors communicating via three independent RS-485 Modbus RTU buses, with data acquisition intervals of five minutes. The photovoltaic monitoring subsystem measures total tilted irradiance, reflected tilted irradiance, module backsheet temperature, illuminance, air temperature, relative humidity, and CO₂ concentration to assess PV performance and its impact on the crop growth environment. This subsystem also utilizes sub-panel illuminance measurements to control the single-axis tracking mechanism, automatically adjusting the modules to a near-vertical angle when light levels fall below preset thresholds. The microclimate monitoring subsystem deploys distributed sensor nodes at multiple heights inside and outside the greenhouse, supplemented by an external weather station, measuring temperature, humidity, CO₂ concentration, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), illuminance, irradiance, and meteorological parameters. The irrigation subsystem monitors soil moisture, soil temperature, water flow, and pressure, automatically regulating irrigation amounts across greenhouse zones through a dual-threshold soil moisture algorithm.

The researchers stated that the distributed sensing network enables synchronized measurement of all environmental variables, capturing physically consistent spatial and temporal patterns, including stable diurnal dynamics, vertical microclimate stratification, and consistent radiation differences between PV-covered and reference zones. These observations validate the reliability of the monitoring architecture for long-term environmental characterization in agrivoltaic greenhouses. The findings were published as a paper in the Journal of Building Engineering, titled "Design and implementation of an integrated microclimate, irrigation, and photovoltaic monitoring system for a pilot agrivoltaic greenhouse." The research was jointly conducted by researchers from the University of Rome Tor Vergata and Fattoria Solidale del Circeo.