The Smart Materials project is investigating the next generation of smart, adaptable materials that will soon be available for use in greenhouses around the world.
These greenhouse roof materials are designed to use resources such as energy as efficiently as possible, while increasing the quality and yields of horticultural products. The project is being funded by various research organisations, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and a number of commercial partners. The smart greenhouse roof materials should enable the amount and quality of sunlight in the greenhouse to be optimised for every crop and climate zone in the world, even during the day.
Our greenhouse roof experts use greenhouse climate and crop growth models to investigate the potential of these smart roof materials with switchable filters. The optical properties of the greenhouse roof can be changed by applying an electrical current to the material, for example. This means that a smart greenhouse roof can be used to immediately adjust the amount of penetrating sunlight to what the crop needs.
