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2026 Vol.8, Issue 3 Preview Page

Research Article

Assessment of greenhouse energy demand and renewable energy supply potential across regions in the Republic of Korea using TRNSYS-CONTAM
Gwangshim Kim1†
,
Sungwan Park1†
,
Yoseph Lee2
,
Hoon Seonwoo123*
1Smart Agriculture Major, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Republic of Korea
2Department of Smart Agricultural Engineering, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Republic of Korea
3Interdisciplinary Program in IT-Bio Convergence System, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Republic of Korea
*Corresponding Author
†These authors equally contributed to this study as first author.
30 September 2026. pp. 303-332
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Abstract

Greenhouse energy demand and renewable energy availability vary with regional climate, requiring location-specific system design for efficient and low-carbon greenhouse operation. This study evaluated greenhouse heating and cooling loads and the supply potential of solar thermal, photovoltaic (PV), and wind energy across 18 inland and coastal regions of the Republic of Korea using a coupled TRNSYS-CONTAM model. A Venlo-type glass greenhouse in the Goheung Smart Farm Innovation Valley was used as the reference facility. The model was validated against indoor air temperature measured from June to October 2025, showing good agreement between measured and simulated temperatures, with NSE, R2, and MAPE values of 0.874-0.913, 0.895-0.944, and 3.474-5.499%, respectively. Because the validation period excluded winter and no heating-energy measurements were available, the loads are interpreted as relative inter-regional comparisons. Using regional meteorological data from 2021 to 2025 (2025 only for Goheung, Boryeong and Sokcho), mean annual heating and cooling loads ranged from 323,331 to 631,811 MJ and from 210,740 to 287,762 MJ, respectively. Inland regions showed higher mean loads than coastal regions (heating +16.3%, cooling +5.2%, total +12.3%), but only the total load differed significantly (p = 0.011). Solar thermal and PV production was relatively high in southern areas, including Busan, Yeosu, and Goheung, although the coastal–inland difference was not significant (p > 0.20), while wind production varied considerably and was particularly high in coastal regions such as Yeosu and Mokpo, averaging 6.0 times the inland value (p < 0.001). The solar thermal collector area matching annual heating demand ranged from 69.9 to 160.9 m2, and equivalent PV and wind capacities for total annual demand from 86.3 to 148.5 kW and from 258.8 to 30,198.2 kW. These results highlight the importance of jointly considering regional energy demand and renewable energy resources when designing renewable energy systems for energy-independent smart greenhouses.

Keywords
Greenhouse
TRNSYS-CONTAM
Renewable energy
Regional climate
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Information
  • Publisher :Korean Society of Precision Agriculture
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국정밀농업학회
  • Journal Title :Precision Agriculture Science and Technology
  • Journal Title(Ko) :정밀농업과학기술
  • Volume : 8
  • No :3
  • Pages :303-332
  • Received Date : 2026-09-14
  • Revised Date : 2026-09-23
  • Accepted Date : 2026-09-23
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.22765/pastj.20260022
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