New insights of designing thermal insulation and heat storage of Chinese solar greenhouse in high latitudes and cold regions

Abstract

The demand for the quality and yield requirements of crops in high latitudes and cold regions is increasing. The traditional structure design of the Chinese solar greenhouse (CSG) can't meet the needs of over-winter production of warm-season crops, the thermal insulation and heat storage capacity of the CSG need to be further improved. This paper proposed an innovative theory of designing the thermal insulation and heat storage of the CSG that divided into independent heat collection-release system, independent heat storage system and independent thermal insulation system. A novel CSG was designed and built in the Shenyang area, experimentally tested and analyzed the application performance in winter. The results showed that the minimum nighttime air temperature with the novel CSG was 10.1 °C on average during seven continuous days of the coldest temperatures and overcast weather. The maximum temperature difference between inside and outside the novel CSG increased to 38 °C in winter. The average daily heat collection ratio for the five coldest and overcast days was 73.4%. This paper can provide new sights and theoretical guidance for the design of the thermal insulation and heat storage of the CSG in high latitudes and cold regions.