SmartGRO Bioengineering Inc. has developed a proprietary, AI powered horticultural lighting system which has been shown in controlled trials to use up to 80% less electricity to produce an equivalent quantity of harvested fresh weight as compared to the horticultural lighting industry’s leading LED products. This technology offers a significant opportunity to help producers reduce direct costs of production, reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural sector and help the industry move closer toward net-zero production. The project has active engagement with academia, government and key greenhouse producers. The purpose of this project is to prepare smartGRO horticultural lighting products for commercialization by validating the technology in a comprehensive operational demonstration project where the luminary performance is analyzed for efficacy in an operational setting on a range of greenhouse and indoor crops. Activities to be performed include advancement of luminary hardware and software, demonstration with participating growers, collection of data for energy efficiency analysis / modeling, and ML model training. Anticipated outcomes include validation of the energy efficiency and nutritional impact of SmartGRO technology on a wide range of crops, enabling improved industry adoption as part of a comprehensive commercialization strategy.
