Weatherproof Energy Supply in a Mobile Greenhouse

• What was needed: Ready-to-connect e-chain® system incl. installation
• Requirements: energy supply as a complete system, weather-resistant, cable with UV resistance
• Products: e-chain® basic flizz®, chainflex® series CF77.UL.D, CF34, CF9, CF10
• Industry: Agriculture
• Success for the customer: basic flizz® as a complete system, weather-resistant, low-maintenance, cost-effective solution, pre-assembled, long product service life and assembly by igus®.

The application:
A lysimeter system is in operation, which has 28 test basins and a rolling greenhouse. The rolling greenhouse is moved over a distance of 21 meters as required.

The Ecological-Botanical Garden at the University of Bayreuth features unique research facilities used by scientists for experiments and long-term studies. Spanning approximately 39.5 acres of open space and 6,000 square meters of greenhouse area, the garden showcases near-natural vegetation types from around the world. In addition to its plant diversity, the facility illustrates ecological relationships and functional interactions within different ecosystems.

One of the key research installations within the Ecological-Botanical Garden is the lysimeter facility. Consisting of 28 individual test basins, it enables researchers to quantify water, nutrient, and carbon balances in agricultural crops under controlled conditions.

The facility is also equipped with a rolling greenhouse that automatically covers portions of the planted basins during rainfall, preventing natural precipitation from reaching the soil. This allows researchers to conduct experiments under controlled drought stress conditions — an increasingly urgent area of study given the growing frequency and severity of drought periods.

“As part of a new research project, we had to modernize the rolling greenhouse at the lysimeter facility, as it was no longer functional and no longer met current safety requirements,” explains Holger Quindt, Electrical Engineering Officer at the University of Bayreuth.

“We wanted a clean and future-proof solution for the energy supply in the fully automated roller greenhouse, which is why we jointly decided in favor of a basic flizz® complete system,” says Oliver Köhler, Sales Engineer at igus®. “In addition, there was no real alternative to using an e-chain® from our perspective. A busbar system is not recommended for outdoor use due to weather exposure and signal transmission challenges, while alternatives such as trailing cables or festoon systems would have been too maintenance-intensive and, in this case, too costly.”

The igus® E2/000 series energy chain proved to be the ideal solution for this application. It is cost-effective, easy to install, highly robust, and operates quietly over long travel distances of up to 492 feet (150 meters).

The basic flizz® is a complete system consisting of an energy chain filled with highly flexible chainflex® cables from igus®, guided safely and smoothly within a weatherproof stainless-steel housing. The system is specifically designed to protect the cables from dirt and extreme weather conditions, ensuring reliable operation in outdoor environments.

At the University of Bayreuth, the fully automated roller greenhouse has a travel distance of approximately 69 feet (21 meters). To compensate for potential misalignment, a floating moving end was installed, further extending the service life of the entire system.

For this application, igus® experts selected the chainflex® control cables CF9, CF10, and CF77.UL.D, along with the motor cable CF34.UL.D, based on the required cross-sections and number of conductors. All cables are UV-resistant and engineered to withstand the highest mechanical loads.

“We operate the largest test laboratory in the industry, where we perform more than ten billion test cycles per year on energy chains and chainflex® cables,” Köhler adds. “This allows us to guarantee long-term reliability, even over long travel distances, high cycle counts, and under the most extreme environmental conditions.”