With new solar modules, greenhouses run on their own energy

Greenhousescan run on their own energy with Voltiris' solar modules © 2022 Voltiris - Plants use light waves from only a portion of the spectrum for photosynthesis - the remainder can be recovered and used to generate solar power. That's the idea behind the solar modules developed by EPFL startup Voltiris. Following encouraging preliminary results, a new pilot installation was recently installed in Graubünden. In Switzerland, growing tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and other lightand heat-intensive vegetables requires building a greenhouse - but operating one consumes a huge amount of power. Farmers have to carefully balance crop yields and economics with environmental concerns. "It costs more than CHF 1.5 million a year to heat a 5-hectare greenhouse," says Nicolas Weber, the CEO of Voltiris. "And a greenhouse of that size emits roughly the same amount of CO₂ per year as 2,000 people." The Swiss federation of fruit & vegetable growers, which cultivate several thousand hectares across the country, has set a target of eliminating all fossil-fuel-based energy from its farming processes by 2040.