Calgary greenhouse to test pulsed LED technology that could cut electricity use
Source: VFD.com
Calgary greenhouse to test pulsed LED technology that could cut electricity use Canadian greenhouse grower Hydragreens Produce is partnering with Calgary-based SmartGRO Bioengineering to test a lighting system that uses ultra-fast LED pulses, plant sensors, and artificial intelligence to adjust light according to crop needs. Sensors monitor factors including plant temperature, health, and growth, with an AI-based control system using that information to adjust the lighting.
According to SmartGRO, controlled tests have shown that plants grown under the pulsed lighting produced the same harvest weight as plants grown under conventional LED lighting, while using up to 80% less electricity. "Improving energy efficiency is essential to the future of indoor agriculture, and innovations like this can help growers reduce costs, increase productivity, and make year-round food production in Canada more sustainable." SmartGRO has received up to C$894,673 (€604,000) in funding from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for the development and testing of the system, while Hydragreens is investing C$916,197 (€619,000) in the project.
"This support from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada will help SmartGRO validate at commercial scale a patent-pending, Canadian-developed lighting and intelligent control platform designed to help growers produce more food, year-round, using dramatically less electricity," says Jared Wolfe, co-founder and CEO of SmartGRO Bioengineering. The country's National Food Security Strategy includes C$750 million earmarked for year-round domestic production of fruits and vegetables, including production in greenhouses and vertical farms.
Why this matters: For operators, this is a water-management story. The useful signal is that direct substrate measurements can help cut drain loss materially without giving up yield or fruit quality, which is exactly the kind of controllable efficiency gain a facility can build on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does substrate sensing matter in free-drain strawberry systems?
Because drain percentage tells a grower what already happened, while substrate moisture and EC data show root-zone conditions directly. That makes it easier to cut water loss without guessing.
What is the operator takeaway from this trial?
If the thresholds are understood well enough, growers can reduce drain water materially while protecting yield and fruit quality, which makes sensing an operational tool instead of a reporting tool.
