Sustainable Production and Consumption 27 (2021) 141–156 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Sustainable Production and Consumption journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/spc Comparative life cycle cost analysis of various solar energy-based integrated systems for self-sufficient greenhouses Muhammad Usman Sajid ∗ , Yusuf Bicer Division of Sustainable Development (DSD), College of Science and Engineering (CSE), Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar Foundation (QF), Education City, Doha, Qatar a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 6 September 2020 Revised 10 October 2020 Accepted 21 October 2020 Available online 23 October 2020 Keywords: Freshwater agriculture cooling spectrum selective nanofluid food security a b s t r a c t This study provides a life cycle cost comparison of four different integrated systems powered by solar energy to provide electricity, water, and cooling for a self-sufficient greenhouse complex. System-1 and System-2 have a vapor absorption cooling system, while System-3 and System-4 have a vapor compres- sion cooling system to provide the required cooling. All the systems have a multi-stage flash desalination unit driven by solar thermal energy to provide freshwater. PV or PV/T modules are installed to meet the electricity demands of the greenhouses. A new greenhouse roof concept is introduced in System-2 and System-4, where there are spectrum selective nanofluids as the working fluid of the PV/T units. This spec- trum selective nanofluid absorbs solar radiations having wavelength greater than 1400 nm while flowing through the roof of the greenhouse, and thus reducing the cooling load of greenhouses. The thermal en- ergy of PV/T is utilized to pre-heat the sea water entering the desalination unit for improved process efficiencies. The life cycle cost analysis indicates that the systems employing nanofluid are less costly than the regular systems due to better efficiency and lower energy requirements, especially in cooling. The reductions in life cycle cost of 22.3% and 12.8% are obtained for System-2 and System-4 as com- pared to System-1 and System-3, respectively. The evacuated tube collectors constitute more than 60% share of the life cycle cost of System-1 and System-3, while PV and PV/T modules have more than 50% share in the life cycle cost for System-2 and System-4. The ambient temperature and solar irradiance have a significant impact on the life cycle cost of all systems. The minimum values for the levelized cost of electricity and cooling are found to be 0.033 $/kWh and 0.015 $/kWh, respectively, for the System-3. System-2 has a minimum cost value of 1.45 $/m 3 for the levelized cost of freshwater. © 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Food security has four main pillars including the wide avail- ability of food, ease in accessibility of food socially, physically and economically, food utilization to fulfill nutritional needs and food stability (FAO, 2002). Many factors can impact food security neg- atively and climate change is one of them as it may lead to a significant reduction in crop production, availability and stability (Premanandh, 2011). The greenhouses provide an effective solution to overcome the problem of crop production caused by extreme weather conditions. The disasters (like COVID-19) may also elevate the food insecurity as a result of a disruption in food supply chains. In such situations, the countries that have self-sufficiency in food can survive without being affected economically and socially. ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: musajid@hbku.edu.qa (M.U. Sajid), ybicer@hbku.edu.qa (Y. Bicer). The plant development is primarily affected by the surround- ing temperature and excessive heat will not only decline the plant growth, but also the production of crops (Zhao et al., 2017). In such hot climatic conditions, greenhouses provide an effective way to grow crops in a controlled environment. The transfer of electricity and water to remotely located greenhouses is another challenge. Therefore, these problems require the development of a highly effi- cient, self-sustained greenhouses employing renewable energy sys- tems. The application of renewable systems can help to attain sus- tainability and reduce environmental problems. Among many re- newable energy sources, solar energy can be considered as the most available and reliable source in various regions of planet earth. To harvest this solar energy, either photovoltaic panels or solar thermal collectors can be used. The solar thermal collectors convert the incident solar radiation into thermal energy and trans- fer to a transporting medium, while photovoltaic panels convert solar energy directly into electricity. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2020.10.025 2352-5509/© 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.