Company:Sollum Technologies
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Smart LED lighting solution |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Headquarters | Montréal, Québec, Canada |
Key people | Louis Brun, François Roy-Moisan, Gabriel Dupras |
| Products | LEDs, Lighting, Grow lights |
Number of employees | 40+ (2021) |
| Website | sollumtechnologies |
Sollum Technologies was founded in 2015. The company makes an LED lighting solution that dynamically recreates and modulates the full spectrum of the Sun’s natural light, specifically for greenhouse cultivation. It is based in Montréal (Québec, Canada), where its design, development, and manufacturing activities are concentrated.
History
Sollum Technologies was founded by Louis Brun, François Roy-Moisan and Gabriel Dupras in 2015. François Roy-Moisan designed the first prototype for an LED lighting system that recreates the full spectrum of the Sun in order to complete a project towards his Masters’ in Electrical Engineering at the École de Technologie Supérieure. In collaboration with his friend and classmate Gabriel Dupras, he initially explored applications for painting restoration, museum lighting and Human Centric Lighting. After several trials, results showed that the technology produced the most value in the Controlled Environment Agriculture space.[1] The company was incubated at deeptech incubator Centech, affiliated with the École de Technologie Supérieure in Montréal.[2]
In 2017, Sollum received the “Most Promising Company of the École de Technologie Supérieure” award[3] and raised a pre-seed round of CAD $1 million.[4]
In June 2020, Sollum received the financial support of the Government of Canada’s Sustainable Development Technology Canada program to accelerate the adoption of its lighting technology.[5]
In September 2020, Sollum’s LED lighting solution was awarded the Solar Impulse Foundation’s Efficient Solution label.[6]
In October 2020, Sollum received the financial support of the provincial government of Québec’s Technoclimat program, which supports innovation in the energy sector and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Québec.[7]
In January 2021, Sollum named Nutrigroupe CEO Claude Dulude to its board of directors and announced the successful harvest of the first winter-produced greenhouse peppers using LED technology in Canada.[8]
Products and applications
The company's LED technology can be programmed to replicate sunlight. With Sollum’s cloud-based platform, growers have access to a library of sun “recipes”, allowing them to adjust their lighting to the needs of specific crops remotely.[9]
The technology has already been applied in practice at two bell pepper greenhouses in Canada, and the company plans to expand into providing lighting to livestock farms, homes, schools, offices and hospitals.[10] In 2020, a citrus grower in Quebec ran a trial with the system to replicate the light of the sun in Japan.[11]
References
- ↑ Larochelle, Samuel (2020-11-10). "Sollum, le soleil en serres prend son envol". https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/portfolio/2020-11-10/innovation/sollum-le-soleil-en-serres-prend-son-envol.php.
- ↑ Deveau, Denise (2018-11-07). "The golden glow of Tuscany: Sollum shining whole new kind of lighting on agtech innovation". https://financialpost.com/entrepreneur/the-golden-glow-of-tuscany-sollum-shining-whole-new-kind-of-lighting-on-agtech-innovation.
- ↑ Dupras, Gabriel; Roy-Moisan, François; Brun, Louis (2017-04-21). "Sollum Recreates Sunlight". Substance Éts. https://substance.etsmtl.ca/en/sollum-recreates-sunlight.
- ↑ Deveau, Denise (2018-11-07). "The golden glow of Tuscany: Sollum shining whole new kind of lighting on agtech innovation". https://financialpost.com/entrepreneur/the-golden-glow-of-tuscany-sollum-shining-whole-new-kind-of-lighting-on-agtech-innovation.
- ↑ Vitello, Connie (2020-06-19). "SDTC Accelerates Adoption of LED Tech for Quebec Company". https://environmentjournal.ca/sdtc-accelerates-adoption-of-led-tech-in-quebec/.
- ↑ "Sollum - Solar Impulse Efficient Solution". https://solarimpulse.com/efficient-solutions/sollum.
- ↑ "Programme Technoclimat - Québec accorde 3,15 M$ à l'entreprise Sollum Technologies pour une solution d'éclairage intelligent destinée à la production en serre". 2020-10-20. https://www.quebec.ca/nouvelles/actualites/details/programme-technoclimat-quebec-accorde-315-m-a-lentreprise-sollum-technologies-pour-une-solution-decl/.
- ↑ "Succesful first harvest of winter-produced greenhouse peppers in Canada". 2021-01-19. https://www.hortidaily.com/article/9285514/succesful-first-harvest-of-winter-produced-greenhouse-peppers-in-canada/.
- ↑ Deveau, Denise (2018-11-07). "The golden glow of Tuscany: Sollum shining whole new kind of lighting on agtech innovation". https://financialpost.com/entrepreneur/the-golden-glow-of-tuscany-sollum-shining-whole-new-kind-of-lighting-on-agtech-innovation.
- ↑ Brun, Louis (2020-04-20). "Autonomie alimentaire: le Québec a tout pour réussir". https://quebec.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/autonomie-alimentaire-quebec-tout-pour-reussir_qc_5e9db0a0c5b69cdf36e5a8ce?guccounter=1.
- ↑ Riendeau, David (2020-06-18). "À la recherche du soleil japonais". https://www.laterre.ca/actualites/cultures/a-la-recherche-du-soleil-japonais.
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