Balancing crop production and energy harvesting in organic solar-powered greenhouses

This study shows that adding semitransparent organic solar cells (ST-OSCs) to a greenhouse structure enables simultaneous plant cultivation and electricity generation, thereby reducing the greenhouse energy demand. To lower the energy footprint of greenhouses, there has been growing interest in integrating solar cells onto the greenhouse structure. In this approach, a portion of light is captured by the solar cells to generate power, while the remaining light transmits into the greenhouse for crop production. The results of this study can benefit development of agrivoltaic operations by maximizing the amount of sunlight reaching plants grown in greenhouses.