A Low-Expense Automated Greenhouse Model

Climate change has resulted in extreme and unpredictable weather worldwide. The increased frequency of climate extremes, such as high heat and low rainfall, affects crop productivity in all types of farming, including commercial, subsistence, and hobby farming. Automated greenhouses can help overcome the effects of climate extremes by using specialised hardware and software to control the greenhouse climate for optimal crop growth. However, setting up and maintaining automated greenhouses can be costly and require specialised knowledge. This research developed a novel conceptual model of a low-expense automated greenhouse to address the issues of cost and expertise. The developed model consists of three unique elements: a list of low-expense hardware components, a general layout of these components in a greenhouse and a flowchart showing how the software supports automation. Three South African experts evaluated the model for the Gauteng province: an automation expert, an experienced greenhouse builder, and a hobby farmer. The evaluation indicated that the model needed additional or updated hardware components for a realistic and complete automated greenhouse, which would result in increased cost, further expansion of instructions on how to set up the greenhouse, and pre-configured software for specific crops. Nevertheless, the unique model provides a preliminary low-expense design with guidance on setting up an automated greenhouse, which could be improved by considering the suggestions provided by the evaluation team.