Delta Electronics, Inc. has introduced a containerized smart plant factory and its building automation solutions at Punggol Digital District (PDD), Singapore’s first smart business district planned by JTC Corporation – a statutory board under Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry. As one of four initial corporations joining the district, Delta integrated a broad range of energy-efficient industrial automation, thermal management, and LED lighting systems to enable a 12-meter containerized smart plant factory capable of regularly producing vast amounts of pesticide-free vegetables with only a fraction of carbon and space footprint as well as less than 5 percent the water consumption of traditional farmland.

Delta’s solutions further mankind’s resilience against environmental challenges, such as carbon emissions and water scarcity.

Fosters Industrial Sustainability

Speaking at the inaugural PDD: Connecting Smartness event, Alvin Tan, Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Industry Cluster Group at JTC, said, “Delta’s activities in Punggol Digital District truly embody the district’s vision of test-bedding and nurturing next-generation talent in smart living innovations. We look forward to welcoming more collaborative partnerships in our district.”

The event was held with the presence of Singapore’s Minister for Trade & Industry, Gan Kim Yong; Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, Teo Chee Hean; and Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information and Ministry of Health, Dr. Janil Puthucheary.

Cecilia Ku, General Manager of Delta Electronics Int’l (Singapore), said, “Delta is committed to enabling a sustainable future through conservation of precious resources such as energy and water, in line with our corporate mission, ‘To provide innovative, clean and energy-efficient solutions for a better tomorrow’.”  

“As the world suffers from the scarcity of natural resources, Delta constantly innovates with smart green solutions that can foster sustainability in essential industries, such as manufacturing, buildings and agriculture. We are very excited to be partnering with JTC as well as international players, academia and trade associations to accelerate innovation in Singapore,” Ku added.

Optimal Automation Solutions

The containerized smart plant factory integrates Delta’s industrial automation, DC brushless fans, and LED lighting systems to create optimal environmental conditions for the cultivation of high-quality, eco-friendly vegetables. For example, up to 144kg of Caipira lettuce can be produced per month in one 12-meter container unit. Unlike most hydroponics vertical farms, Delta’s smart farm solution adopts a modular system, giving flexibility for the expansion of production scales.

The solution can also be customized to produce up to 46 different types of vegetables and herbs and at the same time, ensuring stable and constant supply of quality yield. On average, a container unit may produce up to 10 times vegetable output while consuming less than 5 percent the water needed in a traditional farmland of equivalent size. The solution allows for monitoring and data analytics of the environmental and machine metrics, enabling farmers to make more informed decisions about their production process.

In addition, Delta retrofitted the PDD site gallery with its Building Automation Solutions to nurture companies and educate next generation talents on smart living solutions. Building systems, such as air conditioning, lighting, energy management, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) monitoring and surveillance are all managed on a single platform by adopting LOYTEC’s IoT-based building management platform and building control systems.

Delta’s building automation solutions installed in the PDD gallery also offer benefits such as human-centric lighting control with circadian rhythm, indoor air quality monitoring and control, smart energy metering, crowd detection and people-counting. These functions are all seamlessly integrated into PDD’s Open Digital Platform, which allows remote monitoring and machine learning of usage patterns to obtain the building operation performance and achieve Delta’s goal of a smart, healthy, safe, and efficient life. Delta’s building automation solutions can help a building project to obtain up to 50 out of 110 points of the total LEED green building rating system as well as up to 39 points of the 110 points of the WELL building certification.