“We’ve Built a Controller That Works With Any Horticultural Lighting"

August 12, 2021

In July 2021, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) announced the five start-ups selected to participate in the initiative’s ninth cohort, with agtech company GrowFlux among the participants. The program is targeting the development of sustainable technologies for controlled environment agriculture. GrowFlux specializes in horticultural lighting control, having developed brand-agnostic wireless controllers that allow growers to control both HPS and LED lights. The controllers work with nearly all LED lights, while most HPS lights with dimming capabilities are compatible with the controller.

GrowFlux’s participation in the IN2 will provide up to $250,000 in non-dliutive funding from Wells Fargo as well as the opportunity to collaborate with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The GrowFlux Dimmer. Picture by GrowFlux.

According to CEO and founder Eric Eisele, GrowFlux will use the opportunity to enhance its Precision PAR® branded software controls, which will offer growers the ability to use PAR sensors to control any light according to grower defined lighting targets. The intelligent controls will also incorporate energy management features that will analyze natural light conditions in real time, compare it with historical data and electricity prices, then define the best time to light the greenhouse accordingly.

Coupling lighting control 
“Utility companies are challenged to meet the demand of the rapidly expanding lighting loads within the CEA industry. By coupling our lighting control technology with real-time sensor and energy pricing data, we can define the best time to light a crop to optimize for energy savings,” Eric explains.

GrowFlux plans to address the largest addressable market possible and is doing so by focusing on small- and medium-sized operations. As Alex Roscoe, chief technology officer, explains, these operations are focused on efficiency, ease of use and the eliminating the need for technicians where possible. However, growers’ reliance on proven technologies has previously made it difficult to implement new technologies in the industry. Through IN2, GrowFlux will be able to continue developing its technology and prove it in a near-production setting.

“Right now, we’re in the development phase and once we reach the field deployment phase, which will happen shortly after the program, we’ll be looking for participants to help us scale our technology and ensure that the technology is accessible to the majority of the market. Different cultivators have different priorities; some are light-centric while others lead with temperature and humidity. We want to work with all of these strategies,” says Alex.

Ensuring accessibility and reliability
GrowFlux controllers are wireless and cloud-based, allowing growers to control their lighting system from any device. GrowFlux has also built redundancies into the platform to continue running the light plan should any Internet issues arise. With most facilities having back-up generators, power outages can quickly be mitigated and the redundancies allow the grower to quickly resume its lighting strategy. Cybersecurity has also become a main focus, alongside reliability, to ensure that growers can easily use the controllers and fully benefit from the peace of mind offered.

“We’ve built a controller that works across the entire industry and with any horticultural lighting. At the end of the day, we want to make energy saving controls as accessible as possible and see our industry grow sustainability,” says Eric.

For more information:
GrowFlux 
info@growflux.com 
www.growflux.com

Lead Photo: The GrowFlux Dimmer. Picture by GrowFlux.

NL: Celebrating 15 Years of Horticultural Development At The Horti Science Park

August 9, 2021

Wageningen University & Research (WUR), the Delphy Improvement Centre, and the Municipality of Lansingerland are celebrating fifteen years of scientific development in the field of greenhouse horticulture. Save the date: various activities will be organized during the ’Horti Science Park Event Weeks’, held this year from 20 September to 8 October. From looking back, we are now looking forward to the role that the Horti Science Park will be playing in the future.

The autumn of 2006 saw the launch of a number of cultivation trials at the Delphy Improvement Centre and Wageningen University & Research (Greenhouse Horticulture Business Unit) sites, both located at Violierenweg in Bleiswijk (Municipality of Lansingerland). Pioneering research was conducted in support of both the Dutch and international greenhouse horticulture sector at this Horti Science Park in the past decade and a half.

In addition to devising and developing the Next Generation Greenhouse Cultivation project, a great deal of research was carried out on the application of LED lighting with a view to creating sustainable cultivation systems. The development towards digital cultivation in autonomously controlled greenhouses with the application of newly developed plant sensors is in full swing and will result in far-reaching changes regarding the management of greenhouse horticulture. The development of production systems has always been a part of this, just as several greenhouse prototypes are now being tested and scientific knowledge in the area of cultivation is being developed in support of Vertical Farming practices.

The Municipality of Lansingerland is pleased with the presence of these two leading research institutions in greenhouse horticulture and therefore wishes to further develop its position as a knowledge-intensive municipality focusing on greenhouse horticulture. It is currently collaborating with entrepreneurs and residents on a ‘Horti Science Vision’, which should comprise the basis for guiding greenhouse horticulture research and future plans on themes such as education, employment, and space.

The opening of the ‘Vertical Farming Fieldlab’ by Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and Delphy is scheduled to take place during the ‘Horti Science Park Event Weeks’, which will be held from 20 September to 8 October. In addition to the above, the Municipality of Lansingerland, WUR and Delphy, in conjunction with organizations such as Glastuinbouw Nederland and Greenport West-Holland, will be organizing at least ten other events. Examples are the Knowledge Day for entrepreneurs in horticulture, the WaterEvent and an afternoon symposium on taste research. Meet-ups on the 'Horti Science Vision' will also be planned with young people who are interested in the horticultural sector and residents of the municipality. All events will be looking towards the future based on the knowledge we have today.

For more information:
Wageningen University & Research
www.wur.nl

What's In Store For The Horticulture Industries After COVID-19?

Mariska Dreschler (GreenTech) and Annie van de Riet (AVAG, Association of the Dutch greenhouse construction and technology industry), discuss how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the greenhouse sector, and what is the outlook for the industry.

• The current status of the several horticulture industries and EU projects

• How long will we feel the consequences in the greenhouse industries

• What measures should be taken now and in the future

• Where do the opportunities lie for the horticulture industries

• How are the chains affected and how will they need to change

For more information:
GreenTech
www.greentech.nl

By Horti Daily | May 5, 2020