Greenhouse Energy & Backup — Loads, Generators, Battery Storage & RFQ
Commercial greenhouses lose crops in hours when climate, fogging or fertigation drop out. A properly sized generator with LFP battery bridging and an ATS is the single most bankable energy specification you can make.
How are these load assumptions derived?
Figures are reference values from typical commercial projects — real numbers depend on climate, crop, motor selection (DOL vs VFD), controls topology and outage-risk tolerance. Use them to frame the RFQ; final sizing is confirmed by the winning EPC and OEM as part of the engineered proposal.
Reference figures. Real specs and pricing come from the qualified suppliers that respond to your private RFQ. SeedMatchGroup does not resell equipment.
Core loads: climate computer, HAF fans, exhaust and pad-fans, fogging pumps, boiler / heating pumps, dehumidification, fertigation dosing, LED or HPS supplemental lighting, and pack-house cooling. Peak load is dominated by cooling and lighting.
Critical (must-survive) load is usually 15–25% of the peak: controls, alarms, HAF circulation, one dosing pump and one exhaust bank. Everything else can be shed by the EMS on outage.
Typical load assumptions
Continuous vs peak vs critical (must-survive-an-outage) loads by project scale. Motor starting inrush is 4–7× nameplate for direct-on-line and ~1.5–2× on VFDs — genset kVA must cover the worst-case inrush without voltage collapse.
| Project scale | Continuous | Peak / inrush | Critical load | Runtime target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 ha (mid-tech) | 25–45 kW | 60–90 kW | 10–15 kW | 8–12 h |
| 1 ha (high-tech) | 60–110 kW | 150–250 kW | 20–35 kW | 12–24 h |
| 3 ha (high-tech + LEDs) | 180–320 kW | 450–700 kW | 60–90 kW | 12–24 h |
| 5–10 ha (industrial) | 350–700 kW | 900–1600 kW | 120–200 kW | 24 h+ |
Recommended generator & storage setups
Vendor-neutral reference stacks — diesel or gas generator, LFP battery storage, optional solar PV, ATS and controls. Hybrid stacks let solar and battery serve daytime load while the genset only starts on demand.
| Scale | Generator | Battery (LFP) | Solar PV | ATS / controls | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 ha | 80–100 kVA diesel | 20–40 kWh LFP | Optional 30–60 kWp | ATS + climate UPS 3–5 kVA | Backup-first; solar optional for opex. |
| 1 ha | 200–275 kVA diesel or gas | 60–120 kWh LFP | 80–150 kWp | ATS + UPS 5–10 kVA + EMS | Hybrid pays back on daytime cooling loads. |
| 3 ha + LEDs | 500–650 kVA prime | 200–400 kWh LFP | 250–500 kWp | ATS + UPS 15–20 kVA + EMS | LED dimming under EMS smooths grid + genset load. |
| 5–10 ha | 1000–1500 kVA (parallel gensets) | 500–1000 kWh LFP | 600–1200 kWp | Paralleling gear + full EMS + SCADA | N+1 redundancy; genset synchronisation. |
- ATS on the mains feed — 8–15 second unattended restart, not manual.
- UPS on climate computer, network and dosing controls — bridges the ATS gap.
- Genset in a sound-attenuated enclosure with bunded fuel tank sized for the runtime target.
- LFP battery over lead-acid — 8–15 year life, safer thermal behaviour, better DoD.
- EMS to sequence solar, battery and genset, and to shed non-critical load on outage.
Related energy resources
FAQ
RFQ — Greenhouse energy & backup
Prefilled from this energy application. Review and adjust — a dedicated sourcing specialist dispatches the RFQ privately to qualified global suppliers and integrators.