OptiCrop lands first deal for ClearVue's ag-tech

Herald Sun

a day ago

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Special Report: ClearVue's OptiCrop has scored its first deal, in Israel, rolling out root-zone cooling for smarter, low-energy farming. Backed by a $5m RMIT hub, it's now chasing a future of off-grid, solar-powered greenhouses.
ClearVue's OptiCrop lands first ag-tech deal
Off-grid farming vision starts taking root
RMIT joins $5m push for off-grid farming
For a company that's made a name turning windows into smart solar panels, branching into agriculture might seem like a left turn.
But for ClearVue Technologies (ASX:CPV), it's all part of a bigger plan and it's starting to bear fruit.
In June, ClearVue's Israeli ag-tech subsidiary, OptiCrop, secured its very first commercial project: an $80,000 root-zone cooling installation for a new one-acre greenhouse.
And while that might seem like a modest deal on paper, it's a big milestone for ClearVue's push into protected cropping and sustainable agriculture.
OptiCrop was born out of ClearVue's late-2024 acquisition of the once ASX-listed ROOTS Sustainable Agricultural Technologies' IP.
That included a suite of clever climate control tools for greenhouses – systems designed not just to grow food, but to grow it smarter, with less water, less energy and less reliance on the grid.
This first project will deploy OptiCrop's ground-source heat exchange (GSHE) system beneath a commercial greenhouse in Israel.
The system passively regulates the temperature of nutrient-rich water that feeds plant roots, using stable underground temperatures to warm or cool the liquid as needed.
This means no high-powered aircon or heating bills required.
'This first sale for OptiCrop is a significant milestone for our ag-tech division, and demonstrates early commercial traction in the protected cropping space,' said ClearVue Global CEO, Martin Deil.
'It validates our strategic direction following the acquisition of ROOTS and underlines the strong market potential for integrated solar greenhouses and sustainable climate-control solutions.'
A simple idea that solves a tricky problem
Anyone who's grown tomatoes in summer or spinach in winter knows that plant roots are fussy.
Even if you nail the air temperature, roots that get too hot or too cold can go into shutdown mode, stopping nutrient uptake and halting growth.
This is where OptiCrop's GSHE system helps.
By circulating the nutrient fluid through underground coils, it brings the solution to a 'Goldilocks' temperature zone before it even touches the roots.
The result: a stable root environment, better plant health, and improved yield consistency, especially in greenhouses battling desert heat or winter chills.
It's designed to keep the root zone locked in at roughly 16 °C – 28 °C year-round, using buried sensors to switch the pump on or off as temperatures drift.
Trials on crops from lettuce to capsicums have logged yield bumps ranging anywhere from 20% to 250% versus un-cooled controls, all while cutting heating-and-cooling energy use by up to 80% compared with traditional air conditioning.
This first installation is being built in collaboration with a global ag-tech giant that operates in over 110 countries and supports more than two million farmers.
For OptiCrop to land this deal straight out of the gate says a lot about the direction the company is heading.
'We are excited to see the OptiCrop team hit the ground running and deliver early revenue,' said Deil. 'This order demonstrates the demand for our technologies in the market.'
Teaming up for the future of food
OptiCrop's ambitions go well beyond this first project.
The company's expanding toolbox includes irrigation-by-condensation systems that don't require grid water, as well as cooling tech for vertical farming setups.
The company has also built smart modular kits that let farmers turn their greenhouses into energy-efficient machines.
This includes real-time temperature sensors, hybrid GSHE-heat pump models for extreme climates, and mobile app integration to help farmers keep tabs on root conditions from anywhere.
OptiCrop's vision is to build greenhouses that not only grow food more efficiently but do it off-grid and in places where traditional agriculture just doesn't work.
All this fits snugly into ClearVue's broader tech play: turning buildings, and now greenhouses, into solar-powered ecosystems.
The ClearVue IGU (integrated glazing unit) is already proving itself in the built environment, turning window panels into discreet, energy-generating surfaces.
Read later: Could ClearVue's solar glass tech have spared Spain some pain?
And in agriculture, that tech has been adapted into solar glass for greenhouses: panels that let in 90% of the light plants need, while harvesting solar power from the rest.
When combined with OptiCrop's climate control tools, the result is a self-sustaining greenhouse – one that generates power, manages temperature, and cuts water use, all while improving yields.
ClearVue teams up with RMIT
Backing all this is some serious academic horsepower.
ClearVue is a partner in the new $5 million ARC Research Hub for Intelligent Energy Efficiency in Future Protected Cropping, which is led by RMIT University with Professor Tianyi Ma as a principal investigator.
The initiative will see a purpose-built solar-integrated greenhouse constructed at RMIT's Melbourne campus.
ClearVue will provide PV window panels and performance testing as part of the project.
The aim is to fuse renewable energy systems with intelligent greenhouse controls, the kind of setup that's squarely in OptiCrop's wheelhouse.
The project also explores AI-powered farming decisions, more efficient plant quality tracking, and greenhouse self-sufficiency.
The big picture
Food security, climate adaptation, energy efficiency – they're no longer buzzwords but urgent priorities.
And OptiCrop is positioning itself to solve for all three at once.
From the Israeli desert to the rooftops of urban greenhouses, the goal is clear: make growing food less wasteful, more productive and better adapted to a changing climate.
As Deil puts it: 'We've clearly laid out a roadmap, and we're delivering to that roadmap.'
And while there's still a long way to go, the first commercial sale shows that OptiCrop's roots are taking hold.
It's early days, but sometimes all it takes is one well-placed seed.
This article was developed in collaboration with ClearVue Technologies, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
Originally published as ClearVue's ag-tech seed takes root with OptiCrop's first sale