UbiQD’s quantum-dot greenhouse glass boosts crop yields, USDA study shows

UbiQD, a Los Alamos-based company building quantum-dot technology, has made a significant breakthrough in the agriculture industry.

A recent study conducted by the University of California, Davis found the company’s UbiGro technology, which features luminescent QD-laminated glass, significantly enhances plant growth, nutrient uptake and energy efficiency in controlled-environment agriculture settings — think greenhouses — all without electricity or mechanical input.

“If you go ask a greenhouse grower, ‘Hey, what’s the most important thing to you?’ They’re going to say yield every time, which is just another way of saying revenue,” said Hunter McDaniel, founder and CEO of UbiQD.

The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, found the technology improved lettuce yield gains by 38%, increased its tissue nutrients — like calcium, magnesium and potassium — and saw no detrimental shading effects.

Imagine the ratio of the Earth to a golf ball. That sizing is essentially the same as a golf ball to a quantum dot, McDaniel said. QDs are nanoscale semiconductors that can absorb high-energy photons and re-emit them at lower energy to create longer, photosynthetically efficient wavelengths.

Damon Hebert, UbiQD senior director of agriculture research and development, wrote to the Journal that, when embedded into a polymer interlayer and laminated within greenhouse glass, QDs convert excess UV and blue light into red and orange light — the wavelengths most efficiently used by plants.

Hebert said QD glass can provide growers with more than just higher yields. It reduces the need for supplemental lighting, can easily integrate with existing settings and can help meet sustainability goals by lowering energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Together, the benefits of QD glass enhance profitability and resource efficiency in commercial horticulture, Hebert said.

“These findings demonstrate that spectrally selective QD glazing can serve as a passive, energy-free approach to improving greenhouse microclimates and enabling resilient crop production,” Hebert said. “They point to a promising route for developing climate-smart greenhouses that merge advanced photonics with sustainable strategies for food and energy.”

The breakthrough follows a July announcement where UbiQD entered an agreement with First Solar Inc. to implement its technology into the company’s solar panels. The multi-year partnership will allow UbiQD to grow production by more than 100 metric tons per year.

The USDA study marks the company’s first deployment of QD-integrated glass in the agriculture industry and represents a new form of its UbiGro technology. UbiQD raised $4.5 million in private equity in 2020, allocating a third of that to boost marketing for the application, according to previous Journal reporting.

UbiQD believes the UbiGro technology can be a solution to the global food, energy and water crises.

“We’re a great example of how quantum isn’t this out there, future technology that’s hopefully going to be here someday and improve our lives — it’s here right now, and it’s making food and energy more affordable,” McDaniel said.