Light intensity analysis for Vertical Farming: a lettuce case study

Vertical Farming is an innovative indoor cultivation method, which aims to be more sustainable compared to the traditional one. In particular, this technique consists on optimize the spaces, using the verticals one in order to obtain a great production without the consumption of the soil. Moreover, the vertical farming is focused on re-use abandoned buildings near the cities to reduce the wastes and to reduce the transports needed for the delivery of the products in the markets. On the other hand, the studies of this indoor method is carrying on to analyze if it is more sustainable than the traditional cultivation, because for the growth of the plants it is necessary the use of the LEDs and sensors to monitor the parameters, as pH, EC, temperature, humidity and CO2. These components consume a great quantity of energy, which can have a lower impact on the planet if it comes from renewables sources. The work has been developed and analyzed for the growth chamber built at the Polytechnic of Turin, in collaboration with Technophylla srl, a start up born in 2022, which applies the concept of the Industry 4.0 to the agricultural sector. the focus is the light intensity, one of the main component required by the plants for the growth and the development. After a theoretical analysis on the spectrum of light required during the different phases of the plant's life, the focus is to develop a layout for the sowing of the lettuce in order to provide the light intensity the more uniform possible. During the experiment, two different layout have been tested, different height for the LEDs and the use of reflective panels on different positions to uniform the light. Additionally, it is analyzed the IoT architecture already developed for the growth chamber, providing two different ER diagrams for the creation of a database more completely for the collection and analysis of the data.