ClearVue picks up Israeli ag-tech to enhance greenhouse solar glass offering

ClearVue Technologies will acquire an Israeli developed “temperature optimization and irrigation by condensation” agricultural technology that it says will enhance its solar glass for greenhouses product.

ClearVue will add the technology to its own solar powered glass technology that is suitable for use in agricultural greenhouses to underpin its goal of becoming a serious player in the $50 billion global agricultural greenhouse market.

The company will acquire the intellectual property (IP) and assets of ROOTS Sustainable Agricultural Technologies via its 100 per cent owned, Israeli-based subsidiary Opticrop.

ClearVue’s initial focus will be on autonomous greenhouse solar power control and plant root zone temperature optimisation.

It will achieve this through integration of ROOTS’ suite of agricultural technologies and IP with its own advanced range of solar-glazed glass products that can generate power and offer solar reflection, insulation and auto-shading.

ROOTS’ is an Israeli-based protected cropping agriculture technology supplier that was formerly listed on the ASX.

Its two award-winning proprietary IP and related technologies include root zone temperature optimisation (RZTO) and irrigation by condensation (IBC) technologies to enhance plant growth, productivity and water usage.

This acquisition is a milestone for ClearVue and directly aligns with our strategy to deliver integrated, sustainable net zero solutions for the greenhouse market. ROOTS’ unique root temperature optimisation and irrigation technologies, when combined with our advanced solar glazing solutions, creates a comprehensive suite of agricultural solutions to enhance productivity and crop yields, optimizes energy and water use, and addresses challenges in sustainable farming. ClearVue’s technology has already demonstrated material yield improvements on certain crop types grown inside its Murdoch University research greenhouse.

The company says the RZTO system has been shown to improve crop yield and quality and the IBC is a stand-alone irrigation system that extracts water from the atmosphere’s natural humidity – a good fit for ClearVue which can provide power for things like irrigation direct from the sun.

ClearVue will acquire ROOTS’ IP and assets, including its patents, designs, stock and agreements for NIS431 plus VAT, totalling about A$170,000, under the terms of an asset acquisition agreement in an arrangement approved by the Israeli courts.

Through a new Israeli-based subsidiary of the company, OptiCrop (Israel) Ltd., ClearVue will assume the maintenance of ROOTS’ IP rights and any related regulatory obligations. It will not inherit any of ROOTS’ liabilities or past debts, nor does it assume responsibility for former ROOTS employees or directors.

Prior to its ASX delisting, ROOTS was on the threshold of becoming a leading agri-tech supplier with sales and engagement in international markets including the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and China.

The company has achieved sales for both trial and commercial deployments of ROOTS’ technologies that apply equally to protected cropping and greenhouse agri-systems and can also be applied to open-field growing.

Given ROOTS’ successful antecedents, ClearVue expects to build on its existing agreements and relationships to promote its own solar greenhouse glass and introduce ROOTS’ solutions to its own growing customer base in the greenhouse sector.

ClearVue’s says its solar glazing has been shown to protect plants and enhance their growth and yield in a greenhouse, with the current growing season demonstrating yield increases between 16 and 93 per cent in spinach, bok choi, dwarf beans and various snow pea varieties.

Additionally, trials from ClearVue’s third growing season in 2023 showed between 52 and 170 per cent yield increases in snow peas, capsicum and Roma tomatoes when grown under ClearVue’s solar glass, compared with regular greenhouse glass.

The company’s photo-voltaic integrated glazing units (PV-IGU) can also provide energy to power greenhouse equipment, such as lights, pumps, cameras and electronics for monitoring.

ROOTS’ RZTO technology enhances crop yields by autonomously delivering root cooling or warming solutions, which can also be powered by ClearVue’s solar energy, ensuring plants can continue to thrive even through extreme conditions in remote locations.

Boaz Wachtel, co-founder and former CEO and chairman of ROOTS, says ClearVue’s acquisition of ROOTS’ IP will provide a clear path for both companies to contribute to global agricultural productivity through sustainable and net zero greenhouse solutions via integrated solutions to optimise crop growth and maximise efficient water use.

As ClearVue moves its agri-tech division to become an independent entity, allowing the company to focus on its core strengths in building products and R&D, it is hard to imagine a better-suited suite of technologies brought together to achieve a common goal. And with food security a big issue right now in a geopolitically unstable world, ClearVue just might have a tiger by the tail here.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au