Development of a Vertical Agri-voltaic with Self-Powered Automated Irrigation System in a Residential Urban Area Application

Agri-voltaic shows the promise as a practice that it can harness energy while planting with the same amount of space or lot. This paper assesses the design and development of vertical agri-voltaic system for residential urban area application. The prototype is composed of a food grade barrel with solar panel on top for shading supported by a frame equipped with irrigation system and planted lettuce used as crop for measuring parameters. Experimental vertical planting was established to compare the result of the vertical agri-voltaic system (shaded) and typical vertical planting (unshaded). The growth of the lettuce is measured weekly for growth rate, while the solar output electrical parameters voltage and current are measured hourly using data logger of Arduino. The 100-Watt solar panel produced an average 31.17 watts for 7 weeks. The result shows that the agri-voltaic system (shaded) produced more lettuce in terms of weight, total number of leaves and total length of leaves than the unshaded system. This research is sustainable, safe, and encourage people who likes planting in their residential urban area and promote clean source of energy capable for charging small appliances.