| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1511237 | Energy Procedia | 2014 | 8 Pages |
The most important factor affecting plant growth is solar radiation, and the most crucial solar radiation-requiring process governing plant growth is photosynthesis. Therefore, the characteristics of the greenhouse cladding materials, which can affect the level and quality of the transmitted radiation, are of primary concern for greenhouse cultivation. One primary source of loss of solar radiation transmission of greenhouses and net houses are accumulation of dust and dirt on the exterior surface of the materials. This can reduce the solar radiation transmissivity of films by up to 40% [1].The specific objectives of this work are investigation on the influence of accumulation of dust and dirt on solar radiation transmissivity of polyethylene plastic film and different methods of cleaning them. Polyethylene type of plastic film which has a specific of 110 μm of film, one year life, Ultraviolet (UV) stabilized, infrared modified and anti-drop, will be tested for the influence of accumulation of dust and dirt on their solar radiation transmissivity.The above specimen is placed on an experimental model greenhouse which is erected in an open area at the Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Israel, for 6 months and removes for testing the transmisivity of the materials. Five treatments includes new material, six moths dirty material, air jet cleaning, water jet cleaning, and hand washing will be measured using a Licor spectroradiometer (Li 1800).The results found that the average light transmissivity of new film is about 86%. Before cleaning the film, the average loss in transmission for a period of the 6 months, is decreased about 50% to 36% of light transmissivity. However, after cleaning the film, the average of light transmissivity is about 85% and that meant transmission loss is only 1% in 6 month. Comparison of different methods of cleaning the screens reveled that using air jet only for cleaning the screens, hardly, improves their transmissivity while cleaning them with water jet improve their transmissivity drastically.
