SOLARA
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Platform · methodology

One data layer · three modelling chains · two regulatory frameworks.

SOLARA's modules sit on a common inventory. Whatever a module computes — a kilowatt-hour, a kilogram of refrigerant, a litre of irrigation water — becomes a flow in the life-cycle ledger, and a row in the CSRD/ESRS disclosure tables. No re-keying. No duplicate spreadsheets.

Life-cycle scope · PEFCR for Fresh & Frozen Vegetables

SOLARA follows the European Commission's Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) for fresh and frozen vegetables. Eight cradle-to-grave stages; solid borders are stages where SOLARA captures primary data, dashed borders use PEF default scenarios for downstream consumer behaviour.
SYSTEM BOUNDARY · PEFCR FRESH & FROZEN VEGETABLES LCS 01Rawmaterials LCS 02Cultivation(LED + HVAC) LCS 03Post-harvestprocessing LCS 04Packaging LCS 05Distribution(transport) LCS 06Retail LCS 07 · DEFUse(consumer) LCS 08 · DEFEndof life Cradle-to-grave life-cycle stages SOLID · PRIMARY DATA FROM SOLARA MODULES 01–03 DASHED · PEF DEFAULT SCENARIO
EF 3.1 PEFCR v1.3 ISO 14040 / 14044 CSRD-ESRS-aligned

Modelling chain — solar & energy module

Three physics engines chained at hourly resolution. Each module owns one engine; outputs hand off as well-defined data products.
EnergyPlus 23.2 Building + zone heat balance LED + transpiration → hourly load (kW) pvlib PVWatts POA irradiance + cell temp 14% system losses → hourly PV output (kW) Greedy dispatch PV → load → battery LFP 92% RTE · 90% DoD → shortfall, SoC 8,760 HOURS · ONE WEATHER FILE · ONE LOAD PROFILE

Engines & data sources

LayerEngine / frameworkValidation reference
WeatherTMYx hourly file from climate.onebuilding.orgNCEI ISD-derived, 12-year typical
Building physicsEnergyPlus 23.2 with two-zone IDF generatorGraamans 2018 — replicates 247 kWh/kg-DW within 5%
PV resourcepvlib python 0.10 (PVWatts model, PVsyst cell temp)Holmgren, Hansen, Mikofski 2018 (JOSS)
Battery dispatchSOLARA greedy dispatcher, LFP parametersNREL ReOpt cross-check on Farm32 reference design
Life-cycle inventoryEcoinvent 3.10 + custom CEA processesPEFCR Fresh & Frozen Vegetables v1.3
CharacterisationEF 3.1 method (16 indicators)JRC EF reference package
Disclosure mappingSOLARA CSRD/ESRS schemaEFRAG ESRS v1.0 (E1–E5)

Key references

Graamans et al. 2018 — Plant factories versus greenhouses (Agricultural Systems)
Graamans et al. 2017 — Plant factory model (Biosystems Engineering)
Holmgren, Hansen, Mikofski 2018 — pvlib python (Journal of Open Source Software)
climate.onebuilding.org — TMYx weather files
European Commission JRC — Product Environmental Footprint method & PEFCRs
EFRAG — European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS)