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Old 09-29-12, 06:20 AM   #14
Acuario
Apprentice EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Tortosa, Spain
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Default The greenhouse is almost finished

I have now almost finished my all year greenhouse. The greenhouse is 13 square metres in size and (as we suffer from very strong winds where I live) it is fixed to a shed I had built. The shed also houses all the control system for the greenhouse.

I built a control system using a PIC16F877A development board I bought on ebay, along with a few extra bits - display, keyboard etc. and I'm using DS18B20 1-wire temperature sensors for both the greenhouse and solar hot water control system.

The controller has settings for lighting (to control growth lights) these have settings for morning and evening times and a photo resistor to detect the light level and so turn on/off the lights as necessary.

There are 2 watering programmes that turn on an electronic valve for watering - there are 8 watering nozzels (4 each side).

There is a day time and night time heating program, the heating controls the underfloor circulating pump. There is also the ability to cool (not yet implemented though).

There is a control program for the solar heating that circulates water through the water panel and storage tank. Temperatures of both are monitored by 1-wire thermometers.

In the attached photos you can see the inside with the growing lights and watering nozzels, the control system and the individual programs and the whole control system. Also there are photos of the underfloor heating.

I have a few things growing in there now as you can see. I had a slight accident with over-temperature which is why the tips of the leaves of the lettuices are a bit brown.

Acuario
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