Using the Unused: Light Conversion Coating for Greenhouses
What if there was a coating for greenhouse glass that converts harmful ultraviolet radiation to visible light that is useful for plants in the greenhouse? The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) supports bold proposals such as this one with €50,000 Open Mind grants.
On the 7th of November, a final round of research pitches took place at the NWO TEKNOWLOGY festival in Amersfoort. One of the winning proposals “Using the Unused: Light Conversion Coating for Greenhouses” came from RST researcher Evert Merkx. With the grant, Evert wants to coat greenhouse glass with luminescent coatings that convert the UV part of sunlight to either red, green or blue light and see which of these will increase plant yield most.
The aspiration is to have a proof of concept at the TEKNOWLOGY festival in November next year.
