It ’s the never - ending balance act : when can you use the sun ’s muscularity , and when do you protect your crops from excess sunlight ? agriculturalist in Saudi Arabia are currently doing both . In their retractable shade sieve , folding solar instrument panel are installed . Thanks to the newly launched pliable photovoltaic engineering , the blocked sunlight gets converted into electrical energy . Developer Mirai Solar bid the screenland as a drop - in refilling for conventional shade screen .
Foldable , flexible , and modularThe Mirai Screen was developed by Mirai Solar , a get - up fellowship that spin out out of Saudi Arabia ’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology . Their proprietary engineering - a foldable , flexible , and modular solar panel - was developed specifically for greenhouses . A touch characteristic of the photovoltaic Mirai Screen is that it is retractable , similar to a ceremonious spectre screen , thanks to its lightweight , foldable pattern . Mirai Solar was lately awarded a Solar Prize by the US Department of Energy and is planning to set in motion the Mirai Screen in Q4 of 2023 .
CEO Michael Salvador points out that the photovoltaic tint screen is based on state - of - the - prowess photovoltaic technology . " The Mirai Screen is a photovoltaic solar screen with varying blending and output mogul . A fraction of the igniter is absorbed in the faculty , generate electricity , while the rest light is beam . This way , it palliate the problem of increase operational monetary value of controlled surround agriculture ( CEA ) associated with rapidly rising electrical energy price . "
pilot burner installationsMirai Solar has been work several pilot installations in Saudi Arabia , let in situation at Estidamah , Al - Rasheed , and Red Sea Farms , evidence that its photovoltaic screens can cover up to 90 % of the energy consumption of a mid - tech glasshouse without wallop on crop return . " The electricity generation depend mainly on the tailing horizontal surface of the photovoltaic country of the screen , which can be tailored to the needs of the craw in interrogative , " Michael says . The company is now setting up an installation in California for early 2023 .
drop cloth - in replacementMirai Solar offers the Mirai Screen as a drop - in transposition for conventional shade screen door . The screen are to the full compatible with stock motorise retraction organisation . So , they can be either retrofitted to be greenhouse or integrated as part of a unexampled glasshouse construction . The mechanical part of the organization is a qualify interlingual rendition of the HS2 retractable system , a long - proven resolution develop by Novavert , a company specialise in shading solutions . " To say it a bit provokingly , we were looking for a solution that could do more than creating just shade , says Niclas Heescher with Novavert . " As opposed to established inactive shading solutions , the Mirai Screen rein in the blocked sun and converts it to useful electrical energy . "
" The arrangement also works perfectly okay as a drop - down or overstretch - up side screen . specially in winter in our latitude , the sun can be catch well with a vertical sieve . We have been testing this setup on the outside for half a year with more than 25.000 cycles . "
Support energy needsThe electricity is feed in into the local electric distribution panel to fend for the energy needs of the nursery . Michael : " Unlike conventional agrivoltaics solution , there is no optical impingement on the landscape painting given that the screen are an integral part of the greenhouse gasbag . " Niclas sum up that no land postulate to be handle with PV modules if we can convert more nursery like this . " dissimilar tad percentages can be recognise , and unlike emerging PV technologies , this arrangement is ground on muscular and long - lasting atomic number 14 technology . "
" The indigence for spectre in CEA represents a monolithic opportunity to generate cheap renewable Department of Energy and thereby decarbonize the greenhouse agriculture sphere , " Michael conclude . " Our pith mission is to enable sustainable , large - exfoliation agriculture and bring on fresh water deliverance by empower last - zero energy food yield facilities with lower operating costs than current alternative , even in arid region . That ’s why the screens are designed for deployment in CEA to enable class - troll growing with important water supply savings when compared to open body politic farming . "
For more information : Mirai SolarMichael SalvadorCo - founder and CEOTel : +966-(0)54 - 470 - 0897[email protected]www.miraisolar.com
Novavert GmbH & Co. KGHansaring 14648268 Greven / Germanyoffice : +49 2571 588890e - mail[email protected]web : www.novavert.com
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