Advanced coatings on glass for light and climate control in greenhouses

Designed specifically for the advanced horticultural market, GroGlass Emerald thin film coating increases the transmission of Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR) in regular glass by 8%, while decreasing overall heat gain by 5%.

Developed in close cooperation with Dutch horticultural specialists Dr. Silke Hemming of Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture and Dr. Peter van Nijnatten from OMT Solutions and the TNO Institute, GroGlass Emerald takes into consideration:

  • The sun's position over a greenhouse (angle of light beam incidence)
  • Plant light wavelength sensitivity
  • Temperature and humidity conditions both inside and outside the greenhouse

Improved light transmission both on sunny and cloudy days

The angle of light incidence of sunlight changes throughout the day and season. On sunny days, the angle depends on greenhouse orientation, time of year, time of day, and the latitude where the greenhouse is located. On rainy or cloudy days, the incoming light rays are scattered by the rain and cloud cover.

GroGlass Emerald is designed to maximize the total amount of PAR light that reaches the plants throughout the entire day. It takes into account that most useable light comes at incident angles between 40° and 70°. GroGlass Emerald has been designed to maximize light transmission in that range, which provides the maximum impact on the horticultural yields.

Light wavelength sensitive coating

GroGlass Emerald is designed to dramatically improve the light transmission of glass in the wavelengths most important for plant growth.  This smart coating “knows” which wavelength ranges drive photosynthesis and it transmits the maximum PAR light at exactly these ranges.

High durability

GroGlass Emerald is specifically designed to withstand the harsh affects of intense UV radiation, acid rain, interior and exterior condensation, salt air from the ocean, windborne particle abrasion and frost-thaw cycles. GroGlass Emerald has successfully passed EU standard EN 1096-2 which defines the durability requirements for glass with external surface coatings. In addition GroGlass Emerald passed the weathering tests, as defined by TNO for coated greenhouse glass.