Graduate Seminar
NOTICE OF SEMINAR PRESENTATION
CANDIDATE: Daekeun Kim
DEGREE SOUGHT: MASc
DATE: 3/7/2025
TIME: 10:30am
PLACE: Room 1102 CEI
TITLE: Plant Companion Lighting System To Enhance Energy Efficient Agriculture in Remote Regions
Abstract
Ensuring food security in remote northern regions presents a significant challenge due to harsh climates and limited agricultural infrastructure. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), particularly vertical farming (VF), offers a promising solution by enabling year-round crop production independent of external weather conditions. However, the high energy consumption of artificial lighting in VFs remains a major barrier to sustainability. This study proposes an energy-efficient Plant Companion Lighting System designed to optimize light energy usage by maintaining a consistent distance between LED lights and crops, adjusting light intensity according to growth stages, and incorporating reflectors to minimize light loss. Preliminary experimental results indicate that adjusting LED panel tilt and distance significantly improves light distribution and reduces energy consumption. This research contributes to the development of sustainable CEA systems and provides insights for improving energy efficiency in indoor farming, particularly for low Daily Light Integral (DLI) crops such as lettuce and peas.