‘Smart lighting’ might make vertical farming more affordable

Fiddling with the dimmer switch might help some indoor farmers curb one of their biggest challenges: soaring electricity costs.

Growing crops in stacked rows indoors under fixed-intensity artificial lights can produce more food per square foot while using less land and water than traditional outdoor farms. But this vertical farming technique is also energy intensive and expensive (SN: 9/26/08). Now, researchers have designed a computer program that controls lighting to optimize both photosynthesis and electric bills. Described September 24 in Frontiers in Science, the computer program adjusts the intensity of grow lights hourly based on the changing cost of electricity.

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