LEDs scale up the grower's presence in electricity providing

The new LED lights at Belgian cherry tomato grower Tomerel could increase fruit yields even more than they have, except for one thing: The company has found that at certain times of the day and year, it is more lucrative to route electricity it generates onsite back to the grid.

Thus, in the wintertime, the Antwerp-based outfit tends to switch off its Fluence-supplied LED toplights in the late afternoon, when national electricity rates are high as people return home from work and settle in for the evening.

Instead, Tomerel feeds the grid with electricity, which is more profitable during those hours than the extra yields the company might garner for growing more tomatoes. The replacement of half of its comparatively inefficient high-pressure sodium (HPS) lights last summer with Fluence VYPR 3p fixtures has facilitated the maneuver.

Behold, then, another attribute of energy-efficient LED lighting: It can help your business double as an electricity provider while still improving your core operations.

"The electricity efficiencies enabled us to sell 25% more energy back to the grid," said Tomerel CEO and co-owner Jelle de Ryck.

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Courtesy of Tomerel

Source: LEDs Magazine