The Future of Agriculture
In the next couple of decades more than 2 billion people will be living in the sun-belt regions. These areas are characterized by abundant solar resources, severe water scarcity, and poor infrastructures.
One of the co-founders of SOLHO, Adriano Desideri, states, “Agriculture will have to double food production to sustain the global population, with fewer resources and reduced environmental impact. No technology exists to achieve this target.”
How SOLHO is Changing Agricultural Farming
SOLHO has a viable solution for this long term problem. They are developing an innovative energy system called SPRHOUT (Solar-PoweRed Horticultural Off-grid UniT).
The system uses the sun and available water sources (for example sea or sewage water) to generate all the streams required to operate a greenhouse facility: electricity, heating/cooling, fresh water, and CO2. This energy system takes a leap towards sustainable food provision.
How the System Operates
According to SOLHO the SPRHOUT is the “first renewable solution proposed to power off-grid GBHPs”. Some of the main components to the SPRHOUT include its thermal energy storage system (TES) which allows it to run 24/7. This thermal energy system cuts cost by 30% compared to commercial solutions due to the combination of the TES as well as integrated heat extraction producing greenhouse gases. It is flexible in terms of design (e.g., power output), modular (skid mounted), and scalable for horticultural projects in a range from 0.1 to 30 hectares.
Additionally, It can be remotely operated without the need of trained operators on-site, thus less expensive to operate. Also it reduces the yearly carbon footprint of a GBHP (Greenhouse Based Horticultural Projects). Lastly, It makes off-grid GBHPs resilient to the volatility in fuel prices. They plan on bring the SPRHOUT system into the market in 2020.
Founders of SOLHO
Adriano Emiliano and Adam co-founded SOLHO in 2017 and are headquartered in Delft, Netherlands. They are PhD level engineers with more than 10 years of experience in the field of advanced thermal power systems.
For more details check out their website.