BOULDER – Surna Inc. (OTCQB: SRNA) in Boulder has filed patent applications for technology that will reduce energy consumption in indoor marijuana growing operations.

Surna this week announced that it filed the applications for a reflector that its engineers expect will reduce energy consumption from cooling by as much as 50 percent. The reflector reduces overall energy consumption by as much as 25 percent when combined with the company’s climate control system.

Surna was founded by Tom Bollich, co-founder of Zynga Inc. (Nasdaq: ZNGA), a San Francisco-based online gaming company. Bollich formed the company to acquire cannabis technology platforms.

The company said its six-person engineering team developed the reflector, which uses the company’s water-chilled system to reduce the need for cooling in grow facilities. The reflector also focuses additional light on a marijuana canopy.

The technology has not been validated by third-party testing, but Surna expects it to substantially reduce costs for grow facilities with expensive monthly electricity bills.

Surna said its technology differs from other reflectors because it produces a targeted beam of light over the canopies of plants grown in rows. With a higher percentage of light hitting the plant canopy, higher yields can result from the same wattage. Similarly, lower wattage bulbs also can be used to achieve the same results.

The reflector also directly cools bulbs, which release a high degree of heat. Unlike other reflectors, Surna’s technology works with several kinds of lights, including high-pressure sodium and ceramic metal halide that are common in indoor gardens.

Surna shares fell 6 percent to $.45 per share on Wednesday.