The Year-Round Solar Greenhouse: How to Design and Build a Net-Zero Energy Greenhouse - Paperback

by Lindsey Schiller (Author), Marc Plinke (With)

Build a net-zero energy greenhouse that pays for itself through energy savings and year-round food production. Complete construction plans and proven techniques for creating a solar-powered growing system that eliminates heating bills while providing fresh food 365 days a year.

Why Solar Greenhouses Outperform Heated Versions:

Traditional greenhouses consume massive energy for heating. This design captures and stores solar energy naturally, maintaining growing temperatures through the coldest months without ongoing costs.

What You'll Build:

• Energy-efficient design - architectural plans optimized for maximum solar gain


• Thermal mass systems - store heat naturally without expensive equipment


• Automated climate control - ventilation that responds to temperature changes


• Year-round growing systems - crop rotation for continuous harvests


• Cost-benefit analysis - ROI calculations showing 3-5 year payback

Real-World Results:

Greenhouse builders report 80% heating cost reductions, year-round growing capability in climates down to -20 F, and complete payback through energy savings and food production within 5 years.

Start your energy-independent growing system today. Everything you need to build, operate, and profit from solar greenhouse growing.

Back Jacket

Build your own passive solar greenhouse for year-round food production in any climate

Extensively researched, written with personal experience, and full of essential facts and figures rendered simple and accessible.
-- DARRELL E. FREY, author, The Bioshelter Market Garden

A practical, easy-to-read guide that enables anyone to design and build their own sustainable, year-round greenhouse. I highly recommend it for aquaponic growers, and any gardener looking to extend their season.
-- SYLVIA BERNSTEIN, author, Aquaponic Gardening

FRESH, LOCAL, NUTRIENT-DENSE fruits and vegetables are hard to find in winter in cold climates. Growing warm-weather crops like tomatoes, bananas, avocados, or other perennials is nearly impossible using conventional structures. The solution for millions of backyard and small-scale commercial growers is self-heating solar greenhouses.

The Year-round Solar Greenhouse is the one-stop guide to designing and building greenhouses that harness and store energy from the sun to create naturally heated, lush growing environments even in the depths of winter. Topics include the principles of solar greenhouse design, siting, glazing material properties and selection, controlling heat loss, ventilation, and construction methods. Additionally, an in-depth section covers sustainable ways of heating the greenhouse without fossil fuels, including using thermal mass and storing heat underground with a ground-to-air heat exchanger.

Variations include attached solar greenhouses, earth-sheltered greenhouses, plus integrating hydroponics and aquaponics. More than a dozen case studies from across North America provide inspiration and demonstrate specific challenges and solutions for growing year-round in any climate. Grow your own food, anytime, anywhere using the power of the sun!

An important resource that will help farmers and greenhouse operators leverage innovation for sustainable and profitable food production. ...This book should be part of your tool kit.
-- GAELAN BROWN, author, The Compost-Powered Water Heater

LINDSEY SCHILLER is a greenhouse designer and is, with co-author Marc Plinke, co-owner of Ceres Greenhouse Solutions. Lindsey has designed, toured, and helped build hundreds of energy-efficient greenhouses spanning small residential structures to acre-size commercial facilities.

MARC PLINKE is an inventor-innovator with a PhD in engineering. In recent years he has focused his engineering mindset on building innovative, energy-efficient, and smarter greenhouses, with the intention of enabling people to grow their own food sustainably and year-round.

Author Biography

Lindsey Schiller studied conventional greenhouse design and management at the University of Arizona's Controlled Environmental Agriculture Center before delving deeply into solar greenhouse design. With co-author Marc Plinke, she founded Ceres Greenhouse Solutions to research, design and build energy-efficient year-round greenhouses. Lindsey has designed, toured and helped build hundreds of energy-efficient greenhouses spanning small residential structures to acre-size commercial facilities.

Marc Plinke , an inventor-innovator with a PhD in engineering, started his career as a chemical and process engineer working for Gore Technologies. He later retrofitted his family's 1950's Boulder, CO ranch home into a net-zero-energy home, spurring a second career in green building design. Marc has spent the past decade applying his expertise in green building and engineering mindset to building better greenhouses, with the intention of enabling people to grow their own food sustainably, year-round.