Financial Analysis of Cooling Systems for Environmental Conditioned Strawberry Cultivation in Semi-Closed Greenhouses in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Strawberry production is an important crop in the northern region of Thailand that is only available in winter. Theoretically, strawberries can be grown in plant factories that can control the climate conditions strawberries need. Generally, the cooling load from lighting accounts for almost 80% of the total heat load in the plant factory. To reduce the cost of using light energy and the heat load in plant factories, this study was conducted on cultivation methods in semi-closed greenhouses that utilize natural light during the day. Coolness is generated by solar energy during the day and stored in cooling energy storage that stored coolness is used during the night. The total cooling load for year-round strawberry cultivation in the greenhouse was about 814 GJ, consisting of the stages of strawberry floral initiation, flowering, and fruiting at 17%, 17%, and 66%, respectively. In addition, the payback period is around 14.16 - 16.29 years.