Sustainable returns for greenhouse horticulture thanks to water basin and solar energy

Centrica Business Solutions has been active as an energy service provider in the Dutch greenhouse horticulture sector for many years. Albers Alligator, specialist in flexible constructions, has been realising water basins and covers in this sector for 125 years. With their combined expertise in energy generation and basin covers, the two parties are taking the next step in making greenhouse horticulture more sustainable.

Centrica Business Solutions and Albers Alligator's solution can be attached to both new and renovation water basins, regardless of size. A construction is placed on the anchored floating deck of Albers Alligator. Solar panels are mounted on it. The deck consists of floats, between which hangs a bag of permeable fabric that fills with water and acts as ballast. Unlike standard solutions with floating solar panels, this water bag ensures that the panels are not lifted or moved in (extreme) weather conditions. It is fully integrated with the water basin and further offers all the properties of a traditional algae cloth: preventing algae growth and evaporation and pollution of the irrigation water.

According to Chris van Tiggelen, Head of Sales at Centrica Business Solutions, the new solution combines the best of sustainable energy generation with the protective properties of the water basin cover: "A greenhouse horticulturist obviously cannot put solar panels on the greenhouses. Without needing extra space, this solution still allows energy generation. The water basin is already there and the cover remains fully in place. Only now the grower also benefits from a full solar cover that generates a considerable amount of energy. This can be for own use and/or feed back to the grid. It is important to have a grid connection that can handle this, but many horticulturists already have it because they use a combined heat and power (CHP) system."

Ronald Edel, Managing Director at Albers Alligator, is also proud of the solution realised: "Together, we adapted an existing solution and made it suitable for energy generation, specifically for this sector. Gardeners get a completely light-tight cover of the edges, preventing photosynthesis. Optimal use of space also allows us to install 15% more PV panels compared to other solutions. The system is basically suitable for any horticulturist with a water basin, which makes it a low-threshold solution to become more sustainable."

The floating deck of solar panels is relatively quick to install, depending on the layout of the site. At Kwekerij de Noordhoek in Kapelle, Zeeland, the first project with the Multi-F Solar was recently completed. Here, 1031 solar panels, each with a capacity of 428 kWp, were installed on the Multi-F total cover.

Kees Verhage, owner of De Noordhoek together with brother Henk: "It is an ideal solution for our sector. We were keen to become more sustainable, as an organic horticulturist we consider it important. We were already generating energy for the greenhouse with solar panels on a shed. The space on this is limited. The great thing about the solution of Centrica Business Solutions and Albers Alligator is that our water basin is completely used for energy generation, it is completely customised. Important, because the more efficiently we use this surface, the more interesting the investment becomes for us."

Many customers of Centrica Business Solutions in greenhouse horticulture can combine floating solar panels with other sustainable energy sources. Van Tiggelen: "We already know many horticulturists. We know what possibilities there are to reduce their emissions or to invest further in sustainable energy. Think of CHP or utilising flexible power with Demand Side Response and batteries. Our innovation, Multi-F Solar connects nicely to this. With our Energy Insights monitoring tools, we can also continuously monitor the effectiveness of the panels to ensure the highest possible yield."

Source and photo: Centrica Business Solutions