At first glance , it looks like an average vertical farm , which is what Koen Vangorp of MechaTronix and Kim Vancauwenberghe of Colruyt Group Smart Technics stand for . Strawberry plants , purple light , watering , and respiration , meanwhile , all very ordinary . Yet there is more to it . The new CoolGrow CV VF was develop specifically with an centre on less energy consumption and more production . " We are convince of the potential of vertical agriculture , but we also see that operating cost and installing need some change to be sustainable , " says Kim . " That ’s been achieved with the CoolGrow VF . "
The squad behind the CoolGrow VF : Mechatronix , Colruyt Group , and Achilles Design
cost down , yield upThe profitability of vertical farms is under pressure . high-pitched energy expenditure and relatively limited production figures mean that skeptics have already all but pen off the thought of upright husbandry as hobby undertaking for the glad few . And yet Colruyt Group learn the potential of vertical agriculture . A few years ago , the retailer was look for a party to check that the cost of vertical farm would go down significantly and the yields up .
obstinate to what many people sleep together , there is a panoptic care , with a tenacious custom of productiveness , behind the Colruyt Group supermarket mountain range . " And sustainability is one of the pillar we stand for as a whole fellowship . That need our computer storage , but also what we save beyond the store floor : Our packaging , our logistics solutions , energy direction , and also our energy hold companionship Virya Energy , with which we develop renewable free energy , for example . And then , we see even more for solutions on how to use this energy smartly and make the solid food mountain range more sustainable . That ’s how we cease up with vertical farms . "
She emphasizes that Colruyt Group ’s goal is to make our food mountain chain more sustainable together with growers , bring in available the necessary investments and admittance to land , but also for sure the late technique .
After collaboration with the Laboratory for Lighting Technology ( KU Leuven - Ghent ) and inquiry in the market place , they connect forcefulness with MechaTronix , a manufacturer and specialist of LED kindling for gardening . In late age , the Colruyt Group R&D department has worked heavily on the conception together with Achilles Design . Now there stands the CoolGrow VF as a consequence - but what are we actually look at ?
Like the CoolGrow lamps , the installation is equipped with high - efficiency light-emitting diode and a crank venire in an aluminium housing , but the LEDs open their light over a extremely meditative roof , allowing the light to diffuse completely into the vertical farm . At the same metre , optimal use has been made of the natural philosophy of deflexion and reflection of spark .
By using the diffuse , highly reflective material on the inside of the perpendicular farm , the light coming from that one mending is evenly distributed over the intact width of the vertical farm . As a effect , the plants in the growing system benefit from maximum and fully diffused brightness amount from a individual row of fixtures . " Moreover , the advantage of the installation is that the plant is exposed in place where there would otherwise be no light , " says Koen Vangorp .
The installment has up to 10 times few pic point per solid meter . In accession , the plants also benefit from diffuse illumination and thus initiate producing more . " So the nest egg are twofold , " Kim present . " On the one hand , the initial investiture goes down because far fewer lamp are needed : a 1200W regular can straighten out a cultivation unit with a straddle of almost 5 square meters . To be precise , an area of 1.2 m by 4.2 metre with one lamp and with the cap only 80 cm from the substratum . "
" Then the OPEX also proceed down because you have much less wear and tear and use much less vigor , " Koen adds . " And because the yield per farm area is increase , the depreciation per kilo of product produced is at such a level that you could produce competitively . Even with increased energy Leontyne Price . "
The jointly produce conception is currently being marketed by MechaTronix . Trials have been done with herbs , leafy crops , and strawberries , among others , and will be expand to other crop in the future . " If the initial investing and operating cost come down while you increase production , industrial - scale leaf perpendicular farming finally becomes a viable solution for many more intersection , " concludes Koen .
For more information : MechaTronixMinervum 7139 , 4817 ZNBreda , the NetherlandsTel . : +31 ( 0)76 790 16 10Email:[email protected]www.horti - growlight.com
© FloralDaily.com/Arlette Sijmonsma
