Solar Energy Advancements in Agriculture and Food Production Systems

Solar Energy Advancements in Agriculture and Food Production Systems aims to assist society and agricultural communities in different regions and scales to improve their productivity and sustainability. Solar energy, with its rapidly growing technologies and nascent market, has shown promise for integration into a variety of agricultural activities, providing an alternative, sustainable solution to current practices. To meet the future demands of modern sustainable agriculture, this book addresses the major existing problems by providing innovative, effective, and sustainable solutions using environment-friendly, advanced, energy-efficient, and cost-optimized solar energy technologies. This comprehensive book is intended to serve as a practical guide for scientists, engineers, policymakers, and stakeholders involved in agriculture and related primary industries, as well as sustainable energy development, and climate change mitigation projects. By including globally implemented solar-based agriculture projects in each chapter and highlighting the key associated challenges and benefits, it aims to bridge the knowledge gap between the market/real-world applications and research in the field.

Autorentext
Dr. Shiva Gorjian is an associate professor in the Department of Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, and the Department of Renewable Energy, Faculty of Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, at Tarbiat Modares University (TMU), Tehran, Iran. She received her PhD in mechanics of biosystems engineering from TMU in 2014. She is the editor of the book Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion: Technologies, Applications, and Environmental Impacts (Elsevier, 2020). Her main research area is renewable energy applications in agriculture (AgroRenewables). She has been the lead guest editor of a special issue on the same theme in the Journal of Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments (Elsevier) in 2021. Dr. Gorjian's research interests include solar photovoltaics, solar desalination technologies, hybrid PVT systems, energy and exergy analysis, and modeling and simulation of renewable energy systems. Pietro Elia Campana is Associate Professor at the Future Energy Center, Department of Sustainable Energy Systems, Mälardalen University, Sweden. He is the head of the agrivoltaic research group at Mälardalen University and project leader of the first agrivoltaic systems in Sweden. He holds a PhD in Energy and Environmental Engineering from Mälardalen University. He is associate editor in the Elsevier journal Applied Energy (IF:11.2). His research interests include modelling, simulation, and optimization of agrivoltaic systems and integrated energy systems, machine learning for energy applications, solar irradiance assessment and water-food-energy nexus.

Klappentext

Solar Energy Advancements in Agriculture and Food Production Systems aims to assist society and agricultural communities in different regions and scales to improve their productivity and sustainability. Solar energy, with its rapidly growing technologies and nascent market, has shown promise for integration into a variety of agricultural activities, providing an alternative, sustainable solution to current practices. To meet the future demands of modern sustainable agriculture, this book addresses the major existing problems by providing innovative, effective, and sustainable solutions using environment-friendly, advanced, energy-efficient, and cost-optimized solar energy technologies. This comprehensive book is intended to serve as a practical guide for scientists, engineers, policymakers, and stakeholders involved in agriculture and related primary industries, as well as sustainable energy development, and climate change mitigation projects. By including globally implemented solar-based agriculture projects in each chapter and highlighting the key associated challenges and benefits, it aims to bridge the knowledge gap between the market/real-world applications and research in the field.

Inhalt

1. Solar energy technology in agriculture: Developments, policies, and barriers
   
   2. Solar energy conversion technologies: Principles and advancements
   3. Advances in Solar Greenhouse Systems for Cultivation of Agricultural Products
   4. Photovoltaic water pumping systems for irrigation: Principles and advances
   5. Agrivoltaics: Solar power generation and food production
   6. Aquavoltaics: Dual use of water bodies for solar power generation and aquaculture
   7. Solar heating and cooling applications in agriculture and food processing systems
   8. Solar Desalination Technology to Supply Water for Agricultural Applications
   9. Solar applications for drying of agricultural and marine products
   10. Applications of solar energy in precision agriculture and smart Farming
   11. Economics and Environmental Impacts of Solar Energy Technologies
   12. Emerging Applications of Solar Energy in Agriculture and Aquaculture Systems