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Disrupting the horticulture industry with smart lighting solutions

Project description

Mimicking the sun for vertical indoor farms

Vertical farms are designed to maximise crop production in limited space, which is important in urban areas. However, providing adequate lighting for crops can be a challenge. Artificial lighting systems have traditionally been a barrier to the widespread adoption of vertical farms due to their high energy costs and inability to replicate the full spectrum of sunlight. In this context, the EU-funded miniSun project will develop the most energy-efficient lighting system for the horticulture industry, with a 50 % reduction in energy consumption compared to existing technologies. It uses ground-breaking luminaires that incorporate proprietary LED and smart driver technologies, along with advanced sensors and AI/machine learning algorithms, to fully mimic the solar spectrum.

Objective

Artificial lighting systems are holding back wide adoption of vertical farms due to 1) high energy costs, and 2) inability to fully replicate the sun spectrum. It also affects greenhouses profitability, as they also depend on artificial lighting systems.
miniSun is the most energy-efficient lighting system for the horticulture industry -50% reduction compared to existing technologies-, able to fully mimic the sun spectrum based on ground-breaking luminaires that combine proprietary LED and smart driver technologies with state-of-the-art sensors and AI/ML algorithms. With miniSun, indoor farming becomes profitable for a variety of crops -e.g. cucumber, berries, tomato, pepper-, making it possible to grow them in vertical farms for the very first time.
Our circular business model -low CAPEX/OPEX, recurring revenues over time- will enable rapid growth. Our vision is to become a world leader in the horticulture LED lighting market, addressing a 10% of the market share by 2030.

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-EIC-ACC-BF - HORIZON EIC Accelerator Blended Finance

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-EIC-2022-ACCELERATOR-01

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Coordinator

CROCUS LABS GMBH
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 902 542,00
Address
Hermann-Elflein-Str. 21
14467 Potsdam
Germany

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Brandenburg Brandenburg Potsdam
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 2 717 917,50
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