4 ms·

I don’t think LED lights are the ultimate solution. They could use light pipes during the day when it’s sunny to route sunlight from outside and distribute it i

• lovemenot 6y ago
  Consider the ratio of growth area to exposed surface area. 14x in this case. It's a vertical farm to maximise this ratio. Light pipes may be slightly more efficient than PV in energy conversion during daylight hours, but they do not scale horizontally as the farm scales vertically. For this project in Denmark, the energy comes from abundant wind, not weak and intermittent sun.
  • imtringued 6y ago
    I think you should take into account that plants can differ enormously. Small plants that don't grow in tight grids get some fancy 14x multiplier but once you actually try to grow a space efficient plant like wheat it just doesn't work out. The crop is already maximizing exposure to the sun to an incredible degree. Vertical farming can't increase this "efficiency" other than by adding more layers which will always involve uneconomical artificial lighting. Growing easy plants... is easy. Not every plant is easy to grow in a vertical farm.
    • lovemenot 6y ago
      Thanks. I just learned something about crops. Personally, I like light pipe tecnology. But I still don't get it. If wheat is already maxised for land/light and cannot be improved then what could be the theoretical advantage to indoor growing of wheat partially under light pipes? Area/energy-wise the best it can ever grow indoors is surely no better than on the roof.