Today marks the signing of a unique collaboration agreement in Australian agriculture and technology circles between three local companies with true global appeal.
Produsense and ClearVue Technologies are developing intelligent solar photovoltaic greenhouses, capitalising on a marked shift towards renewable energy and sustainable futures in industry and agriculture across all developed nations.
Dubbed ‘Smart Greenhouses’ the structures will integrate the technology, skills and IP from each company to create self-sustaining, automated, artificially intelligent operations capable of large- scale crop farming.
This concerted approach affords producers a host of immediate benefits over existing methods including improved yields, reduced input costs and resources and, ultimately, increased profitability.
In harnessing the power of the sun as an energy source, coupled with stringent AI controls the long term environmental impact benefits are exemplary of evolving standards in agriculture and industry.
Key to this project is the incorporation of ClearVue Technologies’ advanced building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) products into the actual materials used in greenhouse construction.
Photovoltaic cells are actually built into building facades, roofing, and windows which simultaneously allow solar energy conversion and sunlight to pass through unimpeded to facilitate plant growth.
Produsense agritech solutions in combination with the Foresense Technologies proprietary sensor array hardware and AI software, facilitates real- time data analysis and systems automation. Every aspect of the greenhouse environment is precisely controlled from crop seeding and growth phases right through to harvest.
Moving beyond temperature and humidity control, aspects such as soil hydration, nutrient parameters and ambient light levels are not only monitored minute-to-minute by specifically designed sensors, but are also regulated by automated systems controlling irrigation, fertilisation and artificial lighting.