The Effect of Shape and Orientation on a Greenhouse: A Review

Abstract

Greenhouse is a feasible option for sustainable crop production in the regions of adverse climatic conditions. For a successful greenhouse design, the selection of shape and orientation is of paramount importance. The relevance of this paper is to present a comprehensive and/or detailed review on the selection of shapes and orientation of a greenhouse for both cold and composite climates. A detailed research showed that apart from orientation and shape, studies on design parameters, covering materials, cooling & heating technologies of a greenhouse are necessary to achieve desired benefit. Analysis of earlier studies show that uneven-span shape greenhouse receives the maximum solar radiation and quonset receives the minimum solar radiation during each month of the year at all latitudes and east-west orientation is the best suited for year round greenhouse application at all latitudes as this orientation receives greater total radiation in winter and less in summer except near the equator.