{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]],"date-time":"2026-02-10T16:55:58Z","timestamp":1770742558615,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,2]],"date-time":"2024-04-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1712016000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The market for smart greenhouses has been valued at USD 1.77 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to 3.39 billion by 2030. In order to make this more efficient, with the help of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, it is desired to eliminate the problem of traditional agriculture, which has poor monitoring and accuracy control of the parameters of a culture. Climate control decisions in a greenhouse are made based on parameter monitoring systems, which can be remotely controlled. Instead of this adjustment of the measured parameters, it would be preferable from the point of view of energy consumption that they should be calculated at optimal values from the design phase of the greenhouse. For this reason, it would be better to perform an energy simulation of the greenhouse first. For the study carried out in this work, a small greenhouse (mini-greenhouse) was built. It was equipped with an IoT sensor system, which measured indoor climate parameters and could send data to the cloud for future recording and processing. A simplified mathematical model of the heat balance was established, and the measured internal parameters of the mini-greenhouse were compared with those obtained from the simulation. After validating the mathematical model of the mini-greenhouse, this paper aimed to find the optimal position for placing a normal-sized greenhouse. For this, several possible locations and orientations of the greenhouse were compared by running the mathematical model, with which the most unfavorable positions could be eliminated. Then, some considerably cheaper \u201cmini-greenhouses\u201d were made and placed in the locations with the desired orientations. Using sensor systems and technologies similar to those presented in this work, the parameters from all mini-greenhouses can be monitored in real time. This real-time monitoring allows for the simultaneous analysis of all greenhouses, without the disadvantages of data collection directly in the field, with all data being recorded in the cloud and other IoT-specific advantages being made use of. In the end, we can choose the optimal solution for the location of a real-size greenhouse.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s24072261","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,2]],"date-time":"2024-04-02T09:36:54Z","timestamp":1712050614000},"page":"2261","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Optimizing Greenhouse Design with Miniature Models and IoT (Internet of Things) Technology\u2014A Real-Time Monitoring Approach"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Ioana","family":"Udrea","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechatronics and Precision Mechanics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania"}]},{"given":"Viorel Ionut","family":"Gheorghe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechatronics and Precision Mechanics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania"}]},{"given":"Angel Madalin","family":"Dogeanu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Building Services, Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, 020396 Bucharest, Romania"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"234","DOI":"10.1111\/jiec.12934","article-title":"Environmental and economic impacts of solar-powered integrated greenhouses","volume":"24","author":"Hollingsworth","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Ind. Ecol."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"(2023, June 30). Smart Greenhouse Market. Available online: https:\/\/www.vantagemarketresearch.com\/industry-report\/smart-greenhouse-market-1592."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"271","DOI":"10.17660\/ActaHortic.2015.1107.37","article-title":"Protected crops\u2014Recent advances, innovative technologies and future challenges","volume":"1107","author":"Gruda","year":"2015","journal-title":"Acta Hortic."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"493","DOI":"10.17660\/ActaHortic.1981.115.55","article-title":"Estimation regionale des besoins de chauffage des serres","volume":"115","author":"Chiapale","year":"1981","journal-title":"Acta Hortic."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"56","DOI":"10.1016\/j.solener.2013.06.034","article-title":"Thermal modeling aspects of solar greenhouse microclimate control: A review on heating technologies","volume":"96","author":"Sethi","year":"2013","journal-title":"Sol. Energy"},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"33","article-title":"A quasi-steady state model for predicting the heating requirements of conventional greenhouses in cold regions Information","volume":"5","author":"Ahamed","year":"2018","journal-title":"Process. Agric."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nguyen-Xuan, S., and Nhat, N.L. (2019, January 12\u201313). A dynamic model for temperature prediction in glass greenhouse. Proceedings of the 2019 6th National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) Conference on Information and Computer Science (NICS), Hanoi, Vietnam.","DOI":"10.1109\/NICS48868.2019.9023791"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"381","DOI":"10.1016\/j.solener.2012.09.010","article-title":"Modelling the thermal performance of a naturally ventilated greenhouse in Zimbabwe using a dynamic greenhouse climate model","volume":"91","author":"Mashonjowa","year":"2013","journal-title":"Sol. Energy"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Youssef, A., Dekock, J., Ozcan, S.E., Berckmans, D., Katsoulas, N., and Kittas, C. (2011). Data-Based Approach to Model the Dynamic Behaviour of Greenhouse Temperature, International Symposium on High Technology for Greenhouse Systems (GreenSys).","DOI":"10.17660\/ActaHortic.2011.893.104"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1256","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apenergy.2012.06.051","article-title":"Energy analysis and thermoeconomic assessment of the closed greenhouse\u2014The largest commercial solar building","volume":"102","author":"Vadiee","year":"2013","journal-title":"Appl. Energy"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"498","DOI":"10.1016\/j.egypro.2015.12.234","article-title":"Effect of greenhouse orientation with respect to E-W axis on its required heating and cooling loads","volume":"85","author":"Stanciu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Energy Procedia"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"83","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biosystemseng.2022.03.002","article-title":"Determination of overall heat transfer coefficient for greenhouse energy-saving screen using Trnsys and hotbox","volume":"217","author":"Rabiu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Biosyst. Eng."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"855","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mcm.2007.05.011","article-title":"Effect of air density variations on greenhouse temperature model","volume":"47","author":"Iga","year":"2008","journal-title":"Math. Comput. Model."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"115277","DOI":"10.1016\/j.enconman.2022.115277","article-title":"A study on temperature spatial distribution of a greenhouse under solar load with considering crop transpiration and optical effects","volume":"254","author":"Xu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Energy Convers. Manag."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"91","DOI":"10.3182\/20020721-6-ES-1901.01324","article-title":"Choice of RBF structure for predicting greenhouse inside air temperature","volume":"35","author":"Ferreira","year":"2002","journal-title":"IFAC Proc. Vol."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4061","DOI":"10.1093\/jxb\/erm262","article-title":"Guard cell apoplastic photosynthate accumulation corresponds to a phloem-loading mechanism","volume":"58","author":"Kang","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Exp. Bot."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106393","DOI":"10.1016\/j.agwat.2020.106393","article-title":"Irrigation management of European greenhouse vegetable crops","volume":"242","author":"Incrocci","year":"2020","journal-title":"Agric. Water Manag."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1972","DOI":"10.1016\/j.renene.2019.07.055","article-title":"A 2020 Experimental study of a new mixed mode solar greenhouse drying system with and without thermal energy storage for pepper","volume":"145","author":"Azaizia","year":"2020","journal-title":"Renew. Energy"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1006\/bioe.2002.0107","article-title":"Convective and Ventilation Transfers in Greenhouses, Part 1: The Greenhouse considered as a Perfectly Stirred Tank","volume":"83","author":"Roy","year":"2002","journal-title":"Biosyst. Eng."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"219","DOI":"10.1006\/jaer.1996.0023","article-title":"Measurement and analysis of air exchange rates in a greenhouse with continuous roof and side openings","volume":"63","author":"Papadakis","year":"1996","journal-title":"J. Agric. Eng. Res."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1006\/jaer.1997.0235","article-title":"Free convection heat transfer in screened greenhouse","volume":"69","author":"Miguel","year":"1998","journal-title":"J. Agric. Eng. Res."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"75","DOI":"10.1006\/jaer.2000.0568","article-title":"Airflows and temperature patterns induced in a confined greenhouse","volume":"78","author":"Lamrani","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. Agric. Eng. Res."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1735","DOI":"10.13031\/2013.25307","article-title":"Modeling Thermal Stratification in Fan-Ventilated Greenhouses","volume":"51","author":"Li","year":"2008","journal-title":"Trans. Asabe"},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"Cygas, D., and Vaiskunaite, R. (2017, January 27\u201328). Efficiency of Natural Ventilation in Central Greenhouse of Botanical Garden in Kosice. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference Environmental Engineering (10th ICEE), Vilnius, Lithuania."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"115698","DOI":"10.1016\/j.applthermaleng.2020.115698","article-title":"Complete greenhouse dynamic simulation tool to assess the crop thermal well-being and energy needs","volume":"179","author":"Baglivo","year":"2020","journal-title":"Appl. Therm. Eng."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"120548","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apenergy.2022.120548","article-title":"Performance study of an active solar water curtain heating system for Chinese solar greenhouse heating in high latitudes regions","volume":"332","author":"Xia","year":"2023","journal-title":"Appl. Energy"},{"key":"ref_27","first-page":"100940","article-title":"Recent advances in net-zero energy greenhouses and adapted thermal energy storage systems","volume":"43","author":"Gorjian","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sustain. Energy Technol. Assess."},{"key":"ref_28","first-page":"101455","article-title":"The greenhouse technology in different climate conditions: A comprehensive energy-saving analysis","volume":"47","author":"Nasrollahi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sustain. Energy Technol. Assess."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"121270","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apenergy.2023.121270","article-title":"Assessment of potential renewable energy alternatives for a typical greenhouse aquaponics in Himalayan Region of Nepal","volume":"344","author":"Parajuli","year":"2023","journal-title":"Appl. Energy"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"26","DOI":"10.1080\/00038628.2022.2134091","article-title":"Energy balance and photovoltaic integration in positive energy buildings. Design and performance in built office case studies","volume":"66","author":"Barrutieta","year":"2023","journal-title":"Archit. Sci. Rev."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"118474","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apenergy.2021.118474","article-title":"Global energy assessment of the potential of photovoltaics for greenhouse farming","volume":"309","author":"Rodrigo","year":"2022","journal-title":"Appl. Energy"},{"key":"ref_32","unstructured":"ThingSpeak (2023, November 10). IoT Analytics Platform. Available online: https:\/\/thingspeak.com\/."},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"Udrea, I., Alionte, C.G., Gheorghe, V.I., Apostolescu, T.C., and Cobzac, C.I. (2022). Innovations in Industrial Engineering II, Springer."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"Adafruit (2023, November 10). DHT22, Temperature-Humidity Sensor. Available online: https:\/\/www.adafruit.com\/product\/385."},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"Adafruit (2023, November 10). BMP180, Barometric Pressure\/Temperature\/Altitude Sensor. Available online: https:\/\/www.adafruit.com\/product\/1603."},{"key":"ref_36","unstructured":"(2023, November 10). Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi4, Desktop Computer. Available online: https:\/\/www.raspberrypi.org\/products\/raspberry-pi-4-model-b\/."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"02012","DOI":"10.1051\/e3sconf\/202018002012","article-title":"IoT solution for monitoring indoor climate parameters in open space offices","volume":"180","author":"Udrea","year":"2020","journal-title":"E3S Web Conf."},{"key":"ref_38","unstructured":"Kennesaw State University (2023, November 10). Lecture Note, Greenhouse Steady State Energy Balance and Mass Balance Models. Available online: http:\/\/ecoursesonline.iasri.res.in\/mod\/page\/view.php?id=1635."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"Garsia, A.M., and Huld, T. (2013). Performance Comparison of Different Models for the Estimation of Global Irradiance on Inclined Surfaces. Validation of the Model Implemented in PVGIS, European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Energy and Transport. Report EUR 26075 EN."},{"key":"ref_40","unstructured":"Popa, R.T. (2023, November 30). Research about The Energy Efficiency of Building Glazings with Attachments, in the Conditions of Our Country. Universitatea POLITEHNICA din Bucure\u015fti. \u0218coala Doctoral\u0103 a Facult\u0103\u021bii de Inginerie Mecanic\u0103 si Mecatronic\u0103, Available online: https:\/\/rei.gov.ro\/teza-doctorat-document\/806765e6a2e1b6682f-22-TEZA-DE-DOCTORAT-SI-ANEXE-FORMAT-PDF-EXCLUS-SCAN.pdf."},{"key":"ref_41","unstructured":"NOAA Solar Calculator (2023, November 12). U.S. Department of Commerce, Global Monitoring Laboratory, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Earth System Research Laboratories, Available online: https:\/\/gml.noaa.gov\/grad\/solcalc\/."},{"key":"ref_42","unstructured":"Window Software (2023, November 12). Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Energy Technologies Area, Berkley Lab. Version 7.8.71, Released: 17 August 2023, Available online: https:\/\/windows.lbl.gov\/window-software-downloads."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"293","DOI":"10.1016\/0038-092X(82)90302-4","article-title":"Estimation of the diffuse radiation fraction for hourly, daily and monthly-average global radiation","volume":"28","author":"Erbs","year":"1982","journal-title":"Sol. Energy"},{"key":"ref_44","unstructured":"SOLPOS Calculator (2023, November 12). Solar Position and Intensity. NREL Transforming Energy, Available online: https:\/\/midcdmz.nrel.gov\/solpos\/solpos.html."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Udrea, I., Popa, R.T., Mladin, E.C., Georgescu, M.S., and Ochinciuc, C.V. (2017, January 19\u201320). Thermal bridges evaluation for a Passive House building in Romanian Southern climate. Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Energy and Environment (CIEM), Bucharest, Romania.","DOI":"10.1109\/CIEM.2017.8120822"},{"key":"ref_46","unstructured":"THERM Software (Version 7.7.10.0, 2019) (2023, November 10). Berkeley Lab\u2014Windows & Daylighting, Building Technology & Urban Systems, Available online: https:\/\/windows.lbl.gov\/therm-software-downloads."},{"key":"ref_47","unstructured":"(2023, July 04). Passive House Blower Door Testing. Available online: https:\/\/efficiencymatrix.com\/passive-house-blower-door-testing\/."},{"key":"ref_48","unstructured":"NP048-2000 (2023, November 30). Standard for the Thermal and Energetic Expertise of the Existing Buildings and Their Heating and Dwelling Hot Water Systems. Buletinul Constructiilor. Available online: http:\/\/www.algorithm.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/NP-048-2000.pdf."},{"key":"ref_49","unstructured":"EnergyPlus (2023, November 10). International Weather for Energy Calculations, Weather Data by Location: Europe (WMO Region 6)\u2014Romania. Available online: https:\/\/energyplus.net\/weather-location\/europe_wmo_region_6\/ROU\/\/ROU_Bucharest.154200_IWEC."},{"key":"ref_50","unstructured":"(2023, November 10). CALOREX Calculator. Available online: https:\/\/www.calorex.ro\/tehnic\/tehnic_34.shtml."},{"key":"ref_51","unstructured":"MatLAB (2024, February 21). Programming and Numeric Computing Platform. Available online: https:\/\/uk.mathworks.com\/products\/matlab.html."},{"key":"ref_52","unstructured":"Tutiempo (2023, November 10). World Weather and Local Weather Forecast. Available online: https:\/\/en.tutiempo.net\/."},{"key":"ref_53","unstructured":"(2023, November 10). PYR Sensor, Easy-to_Use Pyranometer, METER GROUP. Available online: https:\/\/www.metergroup.com\/en\/meter-environment\/products\/pyr-sensor-pyranometer."},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"118","DOI":"10.1016\/j.renene.2013.11.068","article-title":"Simple models to compute solar global irradiance from the CMSAF product Cloud Fractional Coverage","volume":"66","author":"Badescu","year":"2014","journal-title":"Renew. Energy"},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"487","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biosystemseng.2003.08.008","article-title":"Dehumidification of Greenhouses at Northern Latitudes","volume":"86","author":"Campen","year":"2003","journal-title":"Biosyst. Eng."},{"key":"ref_56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Li, Y., Sun, F., Shi, W., Liu, X., and Li, T. (2022). Numerical Simulation of Ventilation Performance in Mushroom Solar Greenhouse Design. Energies, 15.","DOI":"10.3390\/en15165899"},{"key":"ref_57","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"134","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compag.2019.04.013","article-title":"Greenhouse environment modeling and simulation for microclimate control","volume":"162","author":"Ma","year":"2019","journal-title":"Comput. Electron. Agric."},{"key":"ref_58","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1016\/j.agrformet.2004.03.009","article-title":"Measurement and simulation of climate inside Almeria-type greenhouses using computational fluid dynamics","volume":"125","author":"Valera","year":"2004","journal-title":"Agric. For. Meteorol."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/24\/7\/2261\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T14:22:25Z","timestamp":1760106145000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/24\/7\/2261"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,2]]},"references-count":58,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,4]]}},"alternative-id":["s24072261"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s24072261","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,2]]}}}