Greenhouses: A Modelica Library for the Simulation of Greenhouse Climate and Energy Systems

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an on-going project to develop Greenhouses, an open Modelica library for the simulation of greenhouse climate and energy systems. The Greenhouses library is one of the few open-source modeling frameworks for greenhouse climate and crop growth simulation, and the first able to handle simulating the energy integration of greenhouses coupled to thermal systems (e.g. generation and storage units). The proposed modeling framework can be used for multiple purposes, such as the optimal control of the greenhouse actuators, the optimal sizing of the heating appliances, or the optimal integration of the units in the power system. The Green- houses library also comprises multiple example models, making it readily usable for both research and industrial applications.