Greenhouses vastly increase agricultural land-use efficiency. However, they also consume significantly more energy than conventional farming due in part to conditioning the greenhouse space. One way to mitigate the increase in energy consumption is to integrate solar modules onto the greenhouse structure. Semitransparent organic solar cells (OSCs) are particularly attractive given that their spectral absorption can be tuned to minimize the attenuation of sunlight over the plants photosynthetically active spectrum. Here, the benefits of integrating OSCs on the net energy demand of greenhouses within the U.S. are determined through a detailed energy balance model. We find that these systems can have an annual surplus of energy in warm and moderate climates. Furthermore, we show that sunlight reduction entering the greenhouse can be minimized with appropriate design. These results demonstrate that OSCs are an excellent candidate for implementing in greenhouses and provide an opportunity to diversify sustainable energy generation technology.

温室大大提高了农业土地利用效率。但是，由于调节温室空间，与传统耕作相比，它们消耗的能源也多得多。减轻能耗增加的一种方法是将太阳能模块集成到温室结构中。半透明有机太阳能电池（OSC）特别吸引人，因为可以调节其光谱吸收，以最大程度降低植物光合作用光谱上的日照衰减。在这里，通过详细的能源平衡模型确定将OSC集成到美国温室的净能源需求中所带来的好处。我们发现，这些系统在温暖和中性的气候下每年可能会有能量过剩。此外，我们表明，采用适当的设计可以最大程度地减少进入温室的日光照射量。这些结果表明，OSC是在温室中实施的极佳候选者，并提供了使可持续能源生产技术多样化的机会。