Optimizing Green Internet of Things Architecture in a Multi-loop Aquaponics System

With the demand for food projected to rise between 59 and 98% to sustain a population of 9.7 billion people by the year 2050, the global challenge of ensuring food security is becoming increasingly prominent. The decline in rural farmers and the unsustainable methods of traditional farming practices have spurred the emergence of urban farming. Among urban farming techniques, aquaponics systems poise technological integration. The effectiveness of aquaponics relies on a dependable cyber-physical system with Internet of Things (IoT) technology. However, integrating IoT devices results in elevated power consumption and increased production costs for fish and vegetables due to the constant need for power and uninterrupted connectivity. To address this concern, exploring green IoT strategies and techniques to minimize energy consumption and carbon emissions is imperative. Therefore, we employed an innovative modeling and simulation approach to investigate the potential of optimizing sensor placement and sampling rates' impact on energy consumption within an IoT architecture deployed in a commercial-sized multi-loop aquaponics system at Metro Farm (Downtown East, Singapore). The IoT architectures were modeled and simulated using the VisualSim software package. The achieved energy savings were quantified in Watt-hours and extrapolated to assess the overall energy conservation and cost savings for the entire urban farm.