An integrated renewable energy plant with smart monitoring system for sustainable farming

Livestock farming is a highly energy-consuming sector within agriculture, currently causing significant GHG emissions. The necessity of replacing fossil fuels with Renewable Energy Sources (RES) is leading the scientific community toward the research of retrofitting strategies for existing farms, aimed to develop new equipment based on RES for the various farming activities. This study is focused on the development of sustainable heating systems for livestock barns, suitable to be adopted to replace fossil-based existing ones. The research is carried out with reference to a pilot case represented by a swine farm located in northern Italy, rearing 500 sows and 2500 weaners. The study takes into consideration a nursery barn and consists in the design and test of an integrated RES system combining a photovoltaic-thermal plant, a geothermal heat storage, and a modular heat pump. A smart control system was developed and installed to monitor energy uses and environmental conditions. The results demonstrate that a mix of RES can be properly defined for a given livestock farm, specifically designed to exploit the renewable resources typically available in farming environments. Specific smart monitoring systems have been developed and installed for automated data collection and remote control.