[论文解读] Solar Daylighting to Offset LED Lighting in Vertical Farming: A Techno-Economic Study of Light Pipes

Francesco Ceccanti, Aldo Bischi+2 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Mar 16, 2026

Light effects on plants被引用 0

一句话总结

论文在迪拜一座三级垂直农场中评估屋顶光导管日光系统以抵消LED照明，结合光学建模与技术经济分析，对日光、混合和全LED场景进行比较。

ABSTRACT

Vertical farming is a controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) approach in which crops are grown in stacked layers under regulated climate and lighting, enabling predictable production but requiring high electricity input. This study quantifies the techno-economic impact of roof-mounted daylighting in a three-tier container vertical farm using a light-pipe (LP) system that delivers sunlight to the upper tier. The optical chain, comprising a straight duct and a tilting aluminum-coated mirror within a rotating dome, was modelled in Tonatiuh to estimate crop-level photon delivery and solar gains. These outputs were coupled with a transient AGRI-Energy model to perform year-round simulations for Dubai. Tier-3 strategies were compared against a fully LED benchmark, including daylight-only operation, on/off supplementation, PWM dimming, UV-IR filtering, variable-transmittance control, and simple glazing. Ray-tracing predicted an overall LP optical efficiency of 45%-75%, depending on solar position, quantifying the fraction of incident daylight at the collector aperture delivered to the target growing zone. Daylight-only operation reduced the total three-tier yield by 17% and was not economically viable despite 27-29% electricity savings. Hybrid daylight-LED strategies preserved benchmark yield while reducing electricity use. PWM dimming combined with UV-IR filtering achieved the lowest specific electricity energy consumption (6.32 kWh/kg), 14% below the benchmark. Overall, viability remains CAPEX-limited because achievable electricity savings are insufficient to offset the added investment and thus improves mainly under high electricity and carbon-price contexts, although the LP system delivers a 15-38% lower light cost than an optical-fiber reference under identical incident daylight.

研究动机与目标

• 量化通过屋顶光导管系统将太阳光送达三级垂直农场上层层级的光学性能与太阳能增益。
• 评估在日光仅、混合和全年LED运营条件下，迪拜特定的年产量与电力使用情况。
• 评估日光照明策略相对于全LED基准在资本支出对能源 savings 的经济可行性。

提出的方法

• 在 Tonatiuh 中建立光导管光学链（直通管 + 在旋转穹顶中的倾斜铝镀镜）以估算作物层级光子输送与太阳增益。
• 将光学输出与瞬态 AGRI-Energy 模型耦合进行年度模拟。
• 在日光仅、开关、PWM 调光、UV-IR 过滤、可变透射控制以及简单玻璃化策略与完全LED基准之间进行比较。

实验结果

研究问题

• RQ1 在日照位置变化与日夜变化下，光导管系统能将多少日光传递给上层生长层？
• RQ2 相对于全LED基准，日光照明与混合日光-LED 情景对产量与电力消耗有何影响？
• RQ3 在什么条件下（电价、碳价、资本支出）光导管日光照明系统具有经济可行性？

主要发现

• 通过光导管的日光路径效率随太阳位置的变化而在45%至75%之间。
• 日光仅运营将三级产量降低17%，尽管电力节省为27–29%，但在经济上不可行。
• 混合日光-LED 策略能够保持基准产量并降低电力使用；PWM 调光结合 UV-IR 过滤在单位能耗最低，为 6.32 kWh/kg（比基准低14%）。
• 总体而言，可行性受资本支出限制；在高电价和碳价情境下，电力节省并不能完全抵消额外投资。
• 在相同入射日光条件下，日光导管系统的光成本比光纤参考低15–38%。