Can sunlight replace LED lighting in vertical farms?
Source: VFD.com
This study evaluates the techno-economic potential of an optical-fiber daylighting system designed to transport concentrated sunlight directly to the crop growing zones of a vertical farm. By distributing daylight across all rack shelves and limiting heat gains through a UV-IR filter, it reduced electricity consumption by 35-89%, compared with 12% for the light-pipe configuration.
The daylight-only strategy achieved the lowest SEEC, equal to 1.81 kWh kg^-1, but caused a 52% crop productivity reduction. Rooftop photovoltaics covered 22% of annual electricity demand and achieved an 11-12-year payback, making PV the most economically viable rooftop solar option under current market conditions.
Source: ResearchGate Frontpage photo: © Dmitry Marchenko | Dreamstime Publication date: Wed 9 Sep 2026 Related Articles → See More Using AI to detect disease in hydroponic produce Can sunlight replace LED lighting in vertical farms? US (NM): From school farm to school table The state of automation in Norwegian growing Related Articles Using AI to detect disease in hydroponic produce Can sunlight replace LED lighting in 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.
