65 years and big news from Priva
News edited by John Fitzsimmons
Dutch company Priva last month marked its 65th year of business with a list of major new products and technical developments at Green Tech 2024 in Amsterdam.
Priva was founded in 1959 by Jan Prins and his uncle Cor Valk as Valk en Prins to import heaters for greenhouses; heaters that were safer and cleaner to use than existing solutions. In 1965 the company name was changed to Priva, using the first part of the founders’ names. Today the companyis seen as a leader in process automation solutions for controlled environment horticulture/agriculture, institutional buildings and indoor farming. Described as a specialist in climate control and process automation, Priva states its mission as “to create a climate for growth, a climate in which people and plants experience the best conditions to grow, thus contributing to sustainable living for a growing and urbanising world population”.
Pivotal moments in the company’s history included the inception of its first process computer in horticulture and evolution, with the pioneering introduction of climate control solutions in the building automation industry 40 years ago. It subsequently expanded into the indoor growing market 10 years ago gaining recognition as ‘the experts’ choice’ among growers, partners, facility managers, suppliers, and developers.
At GreenTech 2024 Priva unveiled its latest innovations.
Priva ECO: Substantial savings on greenhouse energy costs
Energy represents one of the most significant costs in greenhouse operations. Price fluctuations, weather uncertainties, and sustainability demands are a continuous challenge for growers. Priva ECO (Energy Cost Optimiser), is a groundbreaking solution using ‘digital twin’ technology and Machine Learning to optimise greenhouses’ energy costs.
The ‘digital twin’ at the core of ECO is a virtual copy of the greenhouse, mapping all its installations and grid connections. It also records data related to the energy contracts that are active in the greenhouse, including fluctuating energy prices.
When operating, Priva ECO gathers data while considering the location and characteristics of the greenhouse, its light consumption, and energy usage, as well as real-time weather conditions and forecasts. Energy scenarios are simulated and the optimal scenarios are sent to the Priva Connext climate computer to be executed while maintaining the predefined climate strategy.
When energy prices are low, ECO automatically buys energy from the most cost-effective source, such as the grid electricity or heat from district heating, and stores the heat produced into a buffer. When energy prices are high, ECO uses the energy previously stored in the buffer. It therefore ensures the most cost-efficient use of energy resources throughout the day, resulting in savings from day one.
Priva One: The ultimate integrated solution for predictive and scaleable cultivation
The horticulture industry is constantly evolving. Greenhouse operations are transitioning from responsive to predictive growing, expanding into multiple crops and multiple sites, posing increasing challenges to growers worldwide to create an ideal climate for optimal growth. Priva’s ultimate integration platform, Priva One, puts growers in charge of their crops, providing the most relevant insights on whether their crop goals are achieved and what requires their attention.
The full benefits of Priva One can be best experienced by large-scale vegetable and strawberry cultivation as it allows growers to immediately get insights into which crops require attention across all sites, contributing to significant improvements in crop performance.
Growers with multiple sites producing a variety of crops can also benefit from real-time insights and predictive capabilities; for example, how to deploy energy in the most cost-efficient way for the next 24 hours, how to plan next week’s labour schedule, and/or how to strategise crop yield for the year ahead.
Priva One integrates the solutions of those partners who are shaping the future of predictive cultivation on a large scale, such as Blue Radix, IUNU and Source.ag. Combined with direct insight into crop performances, 24/7 greenhouse control operations and labour management, Priva One aims to bring together everything growers need to manage, plan and operate at a greenhouse in one solution, making it the choice for predictive and scaleable cultivation.
Priva PIM: Optimising crop growth through precision irrigation
Better growth results can be obtained when the application of water and nutrients is optimally managed; not just to make sure the crop has enough water to transpire, but also to prevent giving too much water, which does not necessarily lead to better growth results and can even be harmful to the plants’ roots. It is therefore essential to know exactly when and how much water is needed to ensure optimal crop growth and fruit development.
Priva PIM (Precision Irrigation Management) is an innovative system providing real-time data on water uptake, drainage, nutrient content (EC) and acidity (pH). It enables accurate automated irrigation for optimal crop growth based on real-time insight into plant water uptake and evaporation. It continuously measures the slabs’ weight, the amount of discharge water, EC and acidity pH.
With the insights collected, the Priva climate control computer manages automatically 24/7 the irrigation of the crops to the last drop, saving time and costs for growers. While operating, Priva PIM minimises water evaporation that traditionally reduces the irrigation’s measurement accuracy.
The benefit of PIM includes cost savings on water bills, a reduction in fertiliser usage as well as the security of sufficient and clean water for irrigation. Through its accurate and reliable water management, PIM ensures the most efficient usage of water. Precise usage of water and nutrients (combined with recycling the drain water in the greenhouse) contribute to achieving optimal crop performance.
Priva is dedicated to advancing horticulture through cutting-edge technology paired with robust hardware, software and cloud infrastructure, fostering partnerships, and continuously adapting to meet evolving market demands, enabling growers worldwide with reliable, predictive, sustainable cultivation, and integrating what’s relevant, focusing on what matters, anticipating what’s next.
All images supplied by Priva