Lighting is the most important decision when building a vertical farm

The Vertical Farming market has grown rapidly over the last decade; however, it still remains fragmented with a lack of standardisation. Technology is a core focus as businesses seek incremental gains, precise control and innovative solutions to produce higher quality crops, reduce the price to the consumer and gain competitive power.

Ed Harwood from AeroFarms (2018) stated that lighting is the most important decision when building a vertical farm. He stated that vertical farms could become more efficient and sustainable when lighting is optimized (Nijs, 2016).

The absence of natural light means granular control of artificial light is essential to create the best conditions for crops to flourish - greenhouse lighting systems or indoor farming systems can be extremely valuable.

Smart technology has a big role to play in the vertical farming sector. Sensors, control/monitoring software and AI all help to ensure the efficient running and perfect conditions are maintained and easily replicated.

amBX’s strength is sophisticated lighting algorithms developed over 14 years, backed by academic research and guidance, fine granular control and automated light scenes that can be developed to support varying needs. All of this is delivered without complex programming and the flexible, interoperable nature of the software means that it can work with any hardware e.g., LED grow light solutions or sensors. Data can be ingested and either presented in a custom UI, collected and sent to the cloud or transferred to a third-party system. amBX enables connectivity, our software acts as a middleware layer resolving integration issues and allowing lighting to work seamlessly with other services e.g., air quality, temperature control, irrigation, etc.

We enable a UK-based urban form solution with our high tech vertical farming technology – discover more here.

Our open architecture makes us an ideal partner, we have a network of partners who we collaborate with to create the best solution for our customers. amBX is often the software inside other platforms. We help our partners overcome integration and data visualisation issues as well as deliver sophisticated lighting recipes that can easily be adapted using a simple drag and drop function.

The industry continues to evolve and adapt, lighting has a lot more to offer than illumination. Contact amBX today to discuss your requirements.