SunSense™ Greenhouse Environmental Control System
Modern greenhouses are complex environments where heating, cooling, ventilation, irrigation, lighting, sensors, and energy systems must work together to create optimal growing conditions. When these systems operate independently, greenhouse operators often face environmental instability, increased energy costs, equipment conflicts, and unnecessary operational complexity.
SunSense™ is Ceres’ integrated environmental control platform designed to automate, monitor, and coordinate greenhouse operations from a single intelligent system.
Whether you operate a commercial greenhouse, research facility, educational greenhouse, community growing space, or advanced residential greenhouse, the SunSense™ helps create more stable growing conditions while simplifying operations and improving long-term performance.
What is the SunSense™?
The SunSense™ is a greenhouse environmental control system that automates and coordinates the equipment responsible for maintaining optimal growing conditions.
Rather than treating climate systems, irrigation equipment, ventilation components, and environmental sensors as separate systems, the SunSense™ brings them together into one integrated platform.
The result is a greenhouse that operates as a coordinated ecosystem rather than a collection of independent components.
The SunSense™ can help automate and manage:
- Temperature control
- Humidity management
- Ventilation sequencing
- Irrigation scheduling
- CO₂ monitoring
- Supplemental lighting
- Weather response automation
- Energy optimization strategies
- HVAC(D) coordination
- Environmental monitoring and reporting
Why Greenhouse Automation Matters
As greenhouse facilities become more sophisticated, managing environmental systems manually becomes increasingly difficult.
Without centralized controls:
- Equipment can work against one another
- Environmental conditions become less consistent
- Energy consumption increases
- Labor requirements grow
- Troubleshooting becomes more difficult
- Long-term optimization opportunities are often missed
The SunSense™ helps automate environmental decision-making and coordinate system performance so greenhouse operators can focus on growing rather than constantly managing equipment.
Integrated Environmental Control
Climate Control
Maintain more consistent growing conditions through automated monitoring and control of:
- Air temperature
- Root zone temperature
- Relative humidity
- Heating equipment
- Cooling systems
- Ventilation systems
- Thermal storage systems
The SunSense™ continuously monitors environmental conditions to help maintain conditions that support crop health and greenhouse performance.
Ventilation Automation
Greenhouse ventilation involves coordinating several systems that each respond to changing conditions.
The SunSense™ can coordinate:
- Intake ventilation
- Exhaust ventilation
- Natural ventilation
- Ridge vent operation
- Air circulation systems
- Dehumidification strategies
Coordinated sequencing helps reduce equipment conflicts, improve environmental consistency, and limit unnecessary energy use.
Lighting Control
Automate lighting strategies based on crop requirements, seasonal conditions, and operational goals.
Potential capabilities include:
- Supplemental grow lighting
- Photoperiod scheduling
- Seasonal lighting adjustments
- Energy-aware lighting strategies
Irrigation & Water Management
The SunSense™ can support greenhouse irrigation strategies through environmental monitoring and integrated control capabilities.
Potential applications include:
- Irrigation scheduling
- Environmental-response irrigation
- Moisture-based control strategies
- Water-use optimization
- Fertigation integration opportunities
Systems Integration: The Foundation of Greenhouse Performance
High-performance greenhouses depend on systems working together. The SunSense™ was designed around a systems integration philosophy that coordinates mechanical, electrical, environmental, and operational systems into a unified control platform.
In practice, this means environmental data becomes actionable, HVAC and ventilation systems operate in coordination, lighting and energy strategies are aligned, irrigation responds to changing conditions, and each control strategy supports the greenhouse's overall operational goals.
When greenhouse systems work together, operators can achieve:
- Greater environmental consistency
- Improved energy efficiency
- Reduced equipment conflicts
- Easier facility management
- Better long-term operational performance
Environmental Monitoring & Reporting
Every greenhouse generates valuable operational data. The SunSense™ provides visibility into environmental conditions, equipment performance, and greenhouse operations through centralized monitoring and reporting tools.
The SunSense™ provides environmental trend analysis, equipment runtime tracking, alarm notifications, historical reporting, remote monitoring, and operational performance insights that help operators identify inefficiencies, improve environmental consistency, and optimize greenhouse performance over time.
This information helps operators:
- Identify inefficiencies
- Improve environmental consistency
- Optimize equipment operation
- Reduce energy waste
- Monitor long-term performance trends
- Make more informed operational decisions
Turn Greenhouse Data Into Better Decisions
Collecting data is only the first step. Understanding why environmental conditions change and knowing what actions to take next is where greenhouse performance improvements happen.
Grow Support is an ongoing optimization service for the SunSense™ users that helps greenhouse operators:
- Interpret environmental trends
- Troubleshoot operational issues
- Identify optimization opportunities
- Improve environmental consistency
- Make data-driven management decisions
SunSense™ + Grow Support
SunSense provides the data. Grow Support provides the expertise.
Together, they help greenhouse operators move beyond monitoring and create better growing outcomes through informed environmental management.
Other Greenhouse Technology
One centralized system for controlling the whole environment. Monitor temperature, relative humidity, and CO2, leaf/ canopy temp, PAR, lighting zones, and outdoor weather.
We offer Ceres designed EcoLoop™ or EcoPack™ HVAC options depending on growing goals, budget, site constraints, and greenhouse type. All Ceres environmental controls are custom integrated to suit your needs.
The GAHT® system is a ground to air heat exchanger, a system often referred to as a ‘Climate Battery’. Ceres leads the industry in climate battery technology, having designed and installed more systems in greenhouses than any other company in the world.
Different crops may demand specific lighting requirements. We offer a variety of lighting solutions designed to suit the needs of each individual operation.
Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene is a durable, high light transmissive glazing option. It offers more than 95% light transmission, including the UV spectrum. More than other greenhouse companies, Ceres is implementing full spectrum glazings for maximum crop growth.
Access Greenhouse Technology Related Brochures
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SunSense™ Video Content
SunSense™ Greenhouse Controller FAQs
Yes. We offer a few different options for a vented greenhouse. Please contact us for more information.
Yes. Contact us for more information.
Yes. Our highest level SunSense™ Controller (designed for our SunChamber™) can monitor and control CO2 levels in the greenhouse.
Yes. In greenhouse applications where supplemental CO2 is used the SunSense™ Controller comes standard with horns, strobes and signage required by regulation to warn any person in the building. In case of critical CO2 concentration, the controller will initiate automated venting until the CO2 concentration is back in the safe concentration range.
The customer owns their data forever. However, we do require access to it for facility optimization. Data sets will not be shared with or viewed by other customers.
Data is stored on-site and on a server in our office accessible by the cloud at any time. This will protect from loss of data.
The greenhouse controller dashboard allows the owner to set levels of access to employees, so you control who sees your data.
The dashboard allows the owner to set levels of access to employees, so you control who can change stage settings.
Data can be accessed via our data analytics dashboard. From there, the customer can see all historical data from each sensor, equipment run times and operational modes, power consumption, etc.
The dashboard shows the details of your facility operations. This includes live sensor data, current operational modes of all of your equipment, facility power consumption, local forecast, a page for recipe development, and links to your fertigation controls (if applicable).
The dashboard’s pictures and equipment will be customized to your facility, but we do not change the overall format/layout of our dashboard.
In many cases, yes. Integration possibilities depend on existing equipment, communications architecture, and project requirements.
Yes. The SunSense™ is designed for commercial, research, educational, institutional, and advanced greenhouse environments.
The SunSense™ can provide remote visibility into greenhouse conditions, system performance, and environmental trends, depending on project configuration.
Yes. The SunSense™ can coordinate GAHT® fan operation, thermal charging cycles, and environmental response strategies.
Integrated environmental controls can help improve energy efficiency by coordinating how greenhouse systems operate together and reducing unnecessary equipment conflicts.
The SunSense™ is the technology platform that monitors and controls greenhouse systems.
Grow Support is an optional service that helps greenhouse operators interpret data, troubleshoot challenges, and optimize greenhouse performance using information collected through the SunSense™.
No. The SunSense™ functions as a complete greenhouse environmental control platform on its own. Grow Support is available for operators who want ongoing expert guidance and performance optimization.
Build a More Intelligent Greenhouse
A greenhouse performs best when all systems operate as a coordinated whole.
SunSense™ helps connect climate control, environmental monitoring, automation, and energy management into one integrated platform designed for long-term greenhouse performance.
