Design, construction and analysis of a thermal energy storage system adapted to greenhouse cultivation in isolated northern communities

Abstract This research focuses on the potential of greenhouse cultivation in circumpolar territories. It begins with a survey that encompasses most of the northern greenhouses in North America. This review emphasizes the need for appropriate data and for the right energy system design. Next, the paper focuses on a case study located in Nunavik, which is the northern Inuit territory of the province of Quebec. The Kuujjuaq cooperative greenhouse has been instrumented since June 2016 to collect data on temperature and relative humidity throughout the growing season. These measures have highlighted a major problem: a temperature difference between day and night that is too large, hindering crop development. To counteract this thermal behavior, a heat storage system was designed, built and installed in October 2018. It is the first time that a rock and air-based sensible thermal energy storage system, taking into account local materials and resources, has been designed and built in a northern greenhouse. This paper presents its main characteristics as well as records of temperature changes throughout the growing season. Moreover, an energy balance is presented for three days at the beginning of June 2019.