Energy-saving techniques in urban aquaponics farms by optimizing equipment operating scheme

Abstract

Urban aquaponics farms, by integrating aquaculture with hydroponic vegetable crops, are innovative and sustainable food production alternatives for urban regions with limited access to agricultural land and water resources. The equipment applied to aquaponics farms including LED lamps, air conditioning, osmotic systems, fertigation units, and pumps consume vast amounts of energy. By characterizing the non-schedulable and schedulable assets, this study proposes an optimized load scheduling approach that determines the equipment operating scheme with minimized operating costs and renewable energy loss. With the assumptions made, the proposed algorithm reduces the overall farm electricity usage and makes vertical farms more energy efficient.