Agricultural greenhouses have been identified as a niche application for organic photovoltaic (OPV) integration, leveraging key performance characteristics of OPV technology, including semi-transparency, light weight, and mechanical flexibility. For optimal electrical design and performance assessment of greenhouse-integrated OPV systems, knowledge of the solar irradiance incident on OPV module surfaces is essential. Many greenhouse designs feature roof curvature. For flexible OPV modules deployed on curved greenhouse roofs, this results in a non-homogenous distribution of solar radiation across the module surfaces, which affects electrical output. Conventional modeling methods for estimating solar irradiance on a PV surface assume planarity, and therefore they are insufficient to evaluate OPV (and other flexible PV) installations on curved greenhouse structures. In this study, practical methods to estimate incident solar irradiance on curved surfaces were developed and then applied in an outdoor performance evaluation of large-area, roll-to-roll printed OPV arrays (3.4 m² active area) installed on a gothic-arch greenhouse roof in Tucson, Arizona between October–February. The outdoor performance of six OPV arrays was assessed using the curved-surface modeling tools primarily considering the effect of irradiance on electrical behavior. The OPV arrays had an overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 1.82%, with lower PCE in the afternoon periods compared to morning and midday periods. The OPV arrays experienced an average 32.6% loss in normalized PCE over the course of the measurement period. Based on these results, we conclude that the higher performing OPV devices that are more robust in outdoor conditions coupled with accurate performance monitoring strategies are needed to prove the case for agrivoltaic OPV greenhouses.

High-tech greenhouses in hot-desert climates deliver high yields with minimal water and land footprint but are constrained by costly, emissions-intensive carbon dioxide (CO₂) enrichment supplied via trucked liquid-CO₂. We evaluate two adsorption-based direct air capture (DAC) systems—temperature-vacuum-swing (TVSA) and moisture-swing (MSA)—as on-site enrichment alternatives, benchmarking against conventional liquid-CO₂ supply. Using integrated techno-economic and life-cycle assessment models, we show that DAC systems achieve comparable levelized costs and lower climate-change burdens for high-tech greenhouse cherry tomato and lettuce crop production systems by avoiding transport-related emissions. Sensitivity analysis identifies electricity price and carbon intensity as well as sorbent productivity as dominant performance drivers. In solar-abundant desert regions, powering high-tech greenhouses—including DAC-based CO₂ enrichment systems—with low-cost, low-carbon photovoltaic electricity alleviates both cost and emissions burdens. Results show that adsorption-based DAC systems can provide cost-competitive CO₂ enrichment and reduce associated greenhouse-gas emissions relative to trucked liquid CO₂ when powered by low-carbon electricity, indicating that DAC-E can support more sustainable greenhouse production in hot-desert regions.