Scarlet Greenhouse Envelope: Improving Greenhouse Production and Energy Efficiency Through Passive Photosynthetic Light Quality Management
Grant Data
Project Title
Scarlet Greenhouse Envelope: Improving Greenhouse Production and Energy Efficiency Through Passive Photosynthetic Light Quality Management
Principal Investigator
Professor Yin, Xiaobo
(Principal Investigator (PI))
Duration
36
Start Date
2023-06-01
Amount
4499927
Conference Title
Scarlet Greenhouse Envelope: Improving Greenhouse Production and Energy Efficiency Through Passive Photosynthetic Light Quality Management
Keywords
Scarlet Greenhouse Envelope, Improving Greenhouse Production, Energy Efficiency, Passive Photosynthetic Light Quality Management
Discipline
Mechanical, Production and Industrial Engineering
HKU Project Code
ITS/043/22MX
Grant Type
Midstream Research Programme for Universities (MRP)
Funding Year
2023
Status
On-going
Objectives
The proposed project develops a transformative greenhouse envelope material and anadvanced greenhouse farming technology that increases the yield of economicallyimportant crops by more than 20% with no additional energy (lighting) inputs. Thetechnology leverages our recent discovery that microphotonics can substantially enhancethe quality of photosynthetic light through solar spectral engineering and promote thegrowth of leafy green lettuce plants in both indoor growth chambers under electricallighting and outdoor greenhouse research facility under natural sunlight. In this program,cost-effective manufacturing technology will be developed, transforming the idea into adeployable technology. Mechanically enhanced free-standing films and films that can beretrofitted to the existing greenhouse glazing will be both developed. Different crops ofhigh economic value such as strawberries and sprouts will be investigated under theunique ""red-coloured"" greenhouses.The ""red-coloured"" greenhouse technology and the scalable manufacturing of the ""redcoloured""photosynthesis-augmenting greenhouse envelope materials reduce the costand enhance the competitiveness of greenhouse products, accelerating further theirmarket penetrations.The ""red-coloured"" greenhouse technology will serve as a platform for understanding howspectral quality and spectral interactions affect leaf and canopy photosynthesis, which iscrucial for ecology, plant biology, agronomy, horticulture, and especially for precisionfarming and controlled environment agriculture.