Recognizing the growing interest in the application of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) with greenhouse crop production systems, in this study we used flexible, roll-to-roll printed, semi-transparent OPV arrays as a roof shade for a greenhouse hydroponic tomato production system during a spring and summer production season in the arid southwestern U.S. The wavelength-selective OPV arrays were installed in a contiguous area on a section of the greenhouse roof, decreasing the transmittance of all solar radiation wavelengths and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) wavelengths (400–700 nm) to the OPV-shaded area by approximately 40% and 37%, respectively. Microclimate conditions and tomato crop growth and yield parameters were measured in both the OPV-shaded (‘OPV’) and non-OPV-shaded (‘Control’) sections of the greenhouse. The OPV shade stabilized the canopy temperature during midday periods with the highest solar radiation intensities, performing the function of a conventional shading method. Although delayed fruit development and ripening in the OPV section resulted in lower total yields compared to the Control section (24.6 kg m⁻² and 27.7 kg m⁻², respectively), after the fourth (of 10 total) harvests, the average weekly yield, fruit number, and fruit mass were not significantly different between the treatment (OPV-shaded) and control group. Light use efficiency (LUE), defined as the ratio of total fruit yield to accumulated PAR received by the plant canopy, was nearly twice as high as the Control section, with 21.4 g of fruit per mole of PAR for plants in the OPV-covered section compared to 10.1 g in the Control section. Overall, this study demonstrated that the use of semi-transparent OPVs as a seasonal shade element for greenhouse production in a high-light region is feasible. However, a higher transmission of PAR and greater OPV device efficiency and durability could make OPV shades more economically viable, providing a desirable solution for co-located greenhouse crop production and renewable energy generation in hot and high-light intensity regions.

Direct air capture offers a decentralized pathway for supplying CO₂ to low-concentration utilization applications, including controlled environment agriculture, microalgae cultivation, biocatalytic conversion, and enhanced weathering. Solid sorption is favored for these applications, yet existing technologies require complex and expensive equipment to manage heat for desorption. Here we present a fluidized bed direct air capture system that uses controlled liquid water spray to drive moisture-swing desorption from a commercial ion exchange resin, eliminating the need for external high-grade heat. Breakthrough experiments revealed moisture-activated CO₂ uptake, with optimal performance at 20–40% relative humidity and capacity reaching 3 mmol g⁻¹ at 35 °C. A prototype operating cyclically on 2.8 kg of sorbent achieved productivity of 8.7 gCO₂ kgsorbent⁻¹ h⁻¹ and specific energy consumption of 2.5 kWh kgCO₂⁻¹. We demonstrate performance is strongly governed by regeneration conditions, water injection volume and inlet air conditions, with warm, dry conditions yielding the best performance.