USING OF SOLAR ENERGY FOR THE OPERATION OF A COOLING SYSTEM FOR THE HYDROPONIC IN THE GREENHOUSES

This research aims to study the effect of using the cooling and ventilation system on the production and quality of lettuce and mint crops in autumn and winter season. Two poly- greenhouse models were constructed at the Agricultural Engineering Research Institute (AEnRI), Al-Giza Governorate, Egypt (Latitude of 30.02˚ and longitude of 31.13˚). One of them was equipped with photovoltaic (PV) system to feed electrical load of greenhouse as cooling and ventilation control system (treatment) to control, the maximum and minimum temperature to control the interior climate and the other was a traditional greenhouse (control). The plants were planted in a greenhouse under a hydroponic system. Results of the experimental work shows that the specific approach of cooling and mechanical ventilation for lettuce and mint crop production enhances the rate of growth and increasing the fresh lettuce and mint yield by 52.88% and 49.91%, respectively comparing with control greenhouse.