NUS Researchers Create SmartFarm Device to Harvest Air Moisture for Autonomous, Self-Sustaining Urban Farming
12th August 2021
They created a solar-powered, fully automated device called ‘SmartFarm’ that is equipped with a moisture-attracting material to absorb air moisture at night when the relative humidity is higher, and releases water when exposed to sunlight in the day for irrigation.
August 13th, 2021 at 03:14
In an area with lots of humidity, chances are you don’t need irrigation.
In an area with low humidity, it’s pretty hard to extract water from the air. I remember drinking ice tea at a military base in California and being surprised that there was no condensation on the glass. In Houston, there would be a puddle in 10 seconds. You’ve got to spend a lot of money on equipment or energy to make an extraction from this dry air. In this case, you’ve got “free” solar energy. But that means a significant investment in solar panels and electronics. And then there’s maintenance for hail damage and such.
These sorts of miracle technologies look great on paper, but only work if you can collect $20 a pound for the carrots you’re raising.
So maybe this is a good technology for raising pot.(?)