Voltiris: Uncompromising solar energy for greenhouse crops
Thanks to a unique agrivoltaics technology and close collaboration with Hydro, Voltiris integrates solar electricity production into the heart of industrial greenhouses, without impacting crop growth.
Growing the Future with the Sun
Based in Switzerland, Voltiris divides light into wavelength bands, optimizing energy use with solar modules designed for industrial greenhouses. Voltiris is revolutionizing greenhouse agriculture with its innovative agrivoltaic technology that seamlessly integrates solar energy production into existing greenhouse structures. This patented solution addresses the growing need for sustainable, profitable, and resilient agriculture by maximizing the use of available space while optimizing energy production and crop growth.
Voltris' spectral separation technology allows growers to generate clean energy without compromising crop yields, overcoming the major challenge of shading posed by traditional solar panels. By selectively filtering and distributing sunlight, Voltiris ensures that the essential wavelengths reach crops for photosynthesis, while the rest of the spectrum is converted into electricity. This approach maximizes energy production while supporting sustainable farming practices.
Corrosion resistance: essential in a humid and enclosed environment like a greenhouse.
Aluminum density: weight constraints exist for integration into existing industrial greenhouses, and aluminum allows for a sufficiently rigid profile while meeting Voltiris' specific requirements in terms of strength and rigidity.
Before collaborating with Hydro, Voltiris used standard aluminum profiles. These presented several major drawbacks in the greenhouse context:
- Cost/weight: part of the profile was unnecessary for its intended use, resulting in additional raw material costs.
- Excessive shading: the profile's shape generated too much shade, impacting crop growth.
A Collaboration Based on Co-Design
With 7,500 linear meters of profiles required per hectare of greenhouse, aluminum extrusion emerged as the ideal solution for mass-producing profiles tailored to Voltiris' technical needs at a competitive cost.
"Hydro provided us with genuine expertise in aluminum extrusion manufacturing," explains the Voltiris team. Thanks to this expertise, Hydro supported Voltiris in the co-design of a custom profile, perfectly suited to both the project's requirements and the manufacturing process.
"The quality of the delivered products and the quality of the customer relationship made all the difference." These two factors were key in Voltiris' decision to work with Hydro.