Agritecture spoke with Olivia Engel of St. Louis Indoor Produce (SLIP), a hydroponics start-up growing basil in the heart of the city. They're developing a new lighting technology that allows farmers to capture their lights’ heat and vent it in or out as climate control, and the cooler lights perform at a higher efficiency.
"This lighting technology allows farmers to capture their lights’ heat and vent it in or out as climate control, and the cooler lights perform at a higher efficiency. Additionally, our custom optics emit better PAR for vertical systems: one light bar, mounted horizontally on the ceiling, will cast light evenly down a tower, so farmers will no longer need vertical light boards or strip lighting that stands in the way of their crops", Olivia said.