Giving New Life to Shade: an IN2 Partnership with Mirai Solar
What if growers had the technology to shield their plants from excess heat and light while harnessing that excess energy as a renewable power source? Mirai Solar put this bold idea to the test in a promising experiment at the Danforth Center’s Plant Growth Facility as part of the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2 ) partnership.
What Does Mirai Solar Do?
Mirai Solar develops smart solar energy systems - lightweight, dynamic, and AI-enhanced panels that transform standard shading applications into solar power sources. Their technology takes sunlight that would otherwise be blocked to generate clean electricity.
“Every shaded surface is an opportunity to create sustainability by generating clean power locally and slashing CO2 emissions,” explains Co-founder & CEO Michael Salvador.
As opposed to growing in an open field, greenhouses have the benefit of higher yields at much lower water consumption rates, but they suffer from a high carbon footprint due to the need to control the environment. Mirai Solar’s technology has the potential to dramatically reduce energy consumption in greenhouses, thereby reducing the carbon footprint.
Putting Mirai Solar to the Test
To assess the real-world impact of their technology, Mirai Solar conducted a proof-of-concept experiment in a Danforth Center greenhouse. One half of the greenhouse used conventional passive shading screens. The other half was equipped with photovoltaic Mirai Screens.
The study aimed to measure two key factors: the impact on crop yield and quality compared to standard shading, and the amount of energy generated by the Mirai Screens.
Promising Results
The results of the experiment indicate that the Mirai Screens had no detrimental impact on the crops grown beneath them; in fact, some crops grown showed improved yield and quality compared to those grown under traditional shading. Energy generation was equally encouraging. While Mirai Solar is still analyzing the data, early findings suggest that screens could cover a significant portion of some greenhouses’ energy needs.
“The results of the work done at the Danforth Center are extremely favorable,” Salvador says. “We never had the chance to obtain this type of data. Now, with this third-party validation, we can engage with clients more effectively.”
Scaling Up for the Future
Equipped with this knowledge, Mirai Solar has been working on connecting with interested users, increasing the size of projects they can deliver, and continuing to enhance their product. Their target is to soon deploy the product at a scale of 1-2 acres in both greenhouses and open fields, where it will help farmers save on energy costs and water usage.
“We are thankful for the opportunity given by the Wells Fargo IN2 partnership,” says Salvador. “Working with the Danforth Center’s Plant Growth Facility team and Principal Investigator Dr. Ru Zhang has been an excellent experience. We are using these results to accelerate our growth and build an even better product.”
With sustainability at its core, Mirai Solar is reshaping the future of controlled-environment agriculture – where shade doesn’t just block sunlight but converts it to power.
Learn more about their work at https://miraisolar.com.