Solar-powered climate-monitoring system launches

Farmers will benefit from the new system

A sensor-based wireless climate monitoring and control system that enables farmers to optimise conditions in their greenhouses will launch in California this quarter.

Kodalfa’s system has been deployed by Turkish greenhouse tomato growers since 2005, but the company now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ClimateMinder, its newly incorporated US parent, which is based in Los Angeles. Founder and chief executive Bulut Ersavas remains at the helm.

The move follows a decision by Val Babajov, founder and chairman of investment company Partner 1993, to take a minority stake in the firm in return for cash and the provision of software development services.

Ersavas said: “The American market is looking for flexible technology solutions that either can stand on their own or complement existing greenhouse-control systems to address portability, micro-climates, local practices and backup for primary systems.”

ClimateMinder’s GrowFlex technology comprises a battery or solar-powered sensor network that is housed in the greenhouse and a machine-to-machine-based (M2M) wireless network.

M2M technology consists of devices that include black-box cellular modules – the same technology that is used in mobile phones – embedded in them. The cellular modules enable such devices to communicate wirelessly and to pass data back and forth between them without the need for human intervention.

As a result, if environmental conditions in their greenhouses change, farmers receive alerts that enable them to take action to prevent their crops being damaged. The company claims that its system results in increased production and product quality, a shorter time-to-market, water savings and reduced expenditure on nutrients and pest control.

The aim is to sell the offering to both greenhouse-based producers and farmers with open fields. Small- to medium-sized farms will have the option to rent the system on a monthly basis, but larger operations are expected to purchase it outright. A further goal is to expand the use of the technology into new markets.