ClearVue Technologies and Roots Sustainable Agricultural Technologies have signed off on a collaboration agreement to target the growing greenhouse market, which will take advantage of ClearVue’s proprietary solar glass window technology that generates electricity from sunlight.
The complementary technologies will allow ClearVue’s energy-generating glass panels to power Roots’ “Root Zone” temperature optimisation, or “RZTO” and Irrigation by Condensation technologies.
ClearVue’s clear glass solar glazing solutions for greenhouses use multi-glazed insulated glass unit panels to stabilise the air environment and generate the electrical power required to run Roots’ RZTO technology.
The RZTO technology provides an optimal root zone temperature range that is essential for a plant’s growth, productivity and overall quality.
It is used particularly for vegetable crops.
Roots’ Irrigation by Condensation, or “IBC”, technology uses a standalone, closed-loop, solar-operated system that irrigates crops by creating condensate from air/soil humidity on the external surface of pipes.
Water is cooled in an insulated water tank to below dew point temperatures and then chilled water is circulated through pipes in the greenhouse that are placed on the ground or in the soil at the plant's average root depth.
The humidity that condenses on the pipes then flows by gravity to the soil, irrigating and cooling the plants.
Importantly, Roots management said, in many instances, no additional irrigation is required to maintain plant survival and food production, saving water resources too.
The companies now plan to construct a self-sustaining, off-grid, world-first demonstration greenhouse in Israel, which will showcase the supporting technologies.
The collaboration will explore future opportunities to leverage sales and business networks and increase operational synergies within the growing greenhouse sector, as the world becomes “greener” and the globe’s arable land becomes scarcer.
Roots plans to use the constructed greenhouse year-round and conduct RZTO and IBC testing on various crops and plants.
The companies said that construction of the greenhouse will commence shortly and it is expected to be completed within a 12-month period.
Roots CEO Sharon Devir said: “Roots’ RTZO technology significantly reduces energy requirements by
maintaining optimal root temperatures for crops and plants, rather than heating or cooling the air. We see substantial opportunities for our greenhouse customers to utilise ClearVue’s solar products to power their RZTO and IBC systems off-grid.”
“The collaboration will enable our customers to access a fully-integrated, self-sustaining solution that improves crop yield and quality, lowers operational costs and improves profitability for growers.”
ClearVue Executive Chairman Victor Rosenberg said: “We are extremely proud to be working with Roots who are leaders in providing sustainable agriculture solutions to producers globally. Roots are
a natural fit with our solar PV energy efficient glazing solution, and we are looking forward to working with them on the greenhouse demonstration and providing further benefits to our agriculture clients.”
“An added benefit for ClearVue is that this collaboration represents our first foray into Israel, which we would also seek to leverage as a way to generate interest in our core sales focus area of high-rise architecture.”
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