LEDs power farm-in-a-container
This follows the move to data centres in shipping containers to provide cloud processing quickly and easily on site. The Drop & Grow farm containers developed by Lettus Grow in Bristol deliver the same capability for food, with an LED array, control system and aeroponic growing system all pre-integrated.
The company’s Ostara control system is designed to maximise efficiency and productivity around the soil-less aeroponic system that uses a nutrient-dense mist to irrigate the crops.
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The Drop & Grow 24 contains 24m² of vertical growing space with designated preparation space inside a 40ft shipping container. This has everything required to start a vertical farming business growing either trays of leafy or micro greens or plugs to grow individual plants for the local area and can be installed on a parking lot or existing container park, as long as there is power, water and WiFi. Many container parks are now supporting shops and café’s and the Drop & grow provide shyper-local food sourcing.
LettUs Grow has a deal with Octopus Energy to use renewable power for the container as the power consumption is the main cost of the operation.
This Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) technology optimises the LED frequencies, day/night cycles and water supply for the particular plants being grown to maximise the efficiency. As the containers are easy to transport, they can be easily deployed as and when they are needed. This could be used for research or social-impact projects, without needing to build a permanent facility.
The Drop & Grow 48 contains 48m² of growing space inside the 40ft container and is also modular to scale up production.
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