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Project Topic
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The aim of this project is to design and develop an intelligent, robust, feasible and sustainable AIoT-Agrovoltaic platform/system capable of being deployed to any type of greenhouse, irrespective of climate and type of crop, in regions with limited access to the electrical grid and/or insufficient quantity/quality of irrigation water. To achieve this, under the project framework, we will implement software modules based on advanced artificial intelligence algorithms to jointly control and optimize: i) the performance of photovoltaic panels, ii) the monitoring of physical parameters through sensors (such as cameras, PAR, soil moisture, temperature, and air quality, CO2 level), and the iii) operation actuators in the crop (such as fertilization systems, irrigation, and lighting on/off) in real-time. The ultimate goal is to enhance crop efficiency (precise knowledge of planting, irrigation, and harvesting periods is crucial for optimal crop yield) and photovoltaic performance. Furthermore, to improve crop growth, the AIoT system can be used i) to monitor the CO2 level in the growing environment. When the CO2 level falls below a certain threshold, the CO2 enrichment system will be activated to increase the CO2 concentration, and ii) to control the temperature at night; when it falls below a determined value, a thermal screen will be deployed to conserve temperature in the greenhouse.
Regarding the photovoltaic issue, the energy harnessed by the photovoltaic cells will have a two-fold purpose: self-sustaining powering the greenhouse's operations and purifying /desalinating water for irrigation use. The results of this project will further contribute to food and power sustainability by applying viable and cost-efficient technology solutions to improve all the processes related to greenhouse productivity. Thanks to the integration of plug-and-play hardware sensors and software modules, a complete digital twin of a greenhouse is created. As a result, both expert and non-expert users can easily adjust and interact with any parameter of the platform. This digital twin can be installed practically anywhere with minimum environmental impact and simultaneously serve as a flag system or product of the EU exportable technology for the agro field. The OO of this project is:
Boost the adoption of solar agrivoltaics production in cascade hydroponic greenhouses controlled by AIoT devices to reach carbon neutrality in food production.
Finally, several efforts will be carried out to engage local stakeholders and early adopters thanks to the conduction of capacity-building activities, creating a network of experts, and promoting the local value chain. The capacity-building activities are critical to ensure the adoption of the proposed intercropping system. In this issue, the coordinator has a long and well-known reputation.
A clear establishment of the impact is based on the partners' expertise and the dissemination-communication-exploitation strategy later on to ensure this proposal's success. One of the most critical issues is ensuring that the project results significantly impact the stakeholders. Nonetheless, as in our consortium, relevant stakeholders are included as partners to ensure that the project deliverables will reach high impact and will add an observable change to the involved SMEs.
Thus, the combined effort of researchers and companies from different disciplines, such as agronomy, environmental, telecommunications, and electronics working together with NGOs and public authorities in a transnational and multidisciplinary quadruple helix is needed. This project is entirely aligned with the scope of the call; we have developed specific objectives (see Part II) according to the expected impacts and the challenge and scope of the call. Our intercropping system is designed to be a holistic approach to addressing smallholders' environmental and socioeconomic problems.
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