Gardening market analysis of the hottest led plant

Gardening market analysis of LED plant lighting market

the market of LED and solid-state lighting products packaged for gardening applications is expanding; At the same time, scientists continue to try to match monochromatic spectra with different plants and growth stages, Mary Wright reported

horticultural research has determined that some relatively narrow spectral band radiation can promote the absorption of chlorophyll in plants, thereby promoting the process of photosynthesis. Packaged LED manufacturers and solid-state lighting (SSL) finished product manufacturers are moving to take a share of a fast-growing market. At the same time, researchers continue to work hard to understand how other wavelengths can further improve the productivity of greenhouse and indoor commercial farms

the collocation between LED lighting and commercial growers of flowers and vegetables is very natural. Whether in greenhouses that need supplementary light or indoor environments that rely entirely on artificial light, the electricity charge for gardening lighting is a major cost of farms. Energy efficient solid-state lighting (SSL) products promised to reduce electricity bills from the beginning

however, research on "how specific spectral bands mainly affect different stages of the plant growth cycle" makes LEDs more suitable for this application. Broad spectrum light sources, such as metal halide lamps, basically waste energy in the radiation that produces part of the spectral band, such as green light. Current research has proved that green light is at least not beneficial to plant growth. On the contrary, the monochromatic nature of LEDs means that solid-state lighting manufacturers can produce lamps that emit only the spectral energy required by plants, thereby increasing energy efficiency

encapsulated led

in fact, lighting centered horticultural research is far from enough, but some principles have been established, and researchers continue to study to find the relationship between specific spectral bands and vegetable or flower production. LED manufacturers are studying this. For example, OSRAM optoelectronic semiconductor company released the so-called "far red LED", with a central wavelength of 730nm (Figure 1)

Figure 1 OSRAM's new 730nm LED can improve the productivity of peppers, tomatoes and roses

Kim peiler, OSRAM solid-state lighting application manager, said that 450nm and 660nm bands are the peak chlorophyll absorption of all plants, which has been fully confirmed. However, new studies have shown that the combination of 660 and 730nm light can affect phytochrome photoreceptors in plants. Peiler added that stimulating plant pigments can make plants bloom faster

researchers are also studying how to apply far red light and what point they are in the plant growth cycle. For example, the scope of peile wood-based panel testing machine is mainly used to carry out the required experiments on plywood and other man-made panels. R said that depriving plants of red light can simulate shadows and cause plants to grow longer stems, which can be used for grafting. However, in another stage of the growth cycle or in different applications, red combinations may quickly trigger flowering

led type combination will continue to develop in gardening. OSRAM also provides orange, yellow and green monochrome LEDs and phosphor converted white LEDs that researchers are trying. Why is it a white LED? The blue light pump in the white LED provides the required blue peak, while workers in the gardening environment need white light. Therefore, the mixed use of red and white LEDs has proved to be useful, providing the light required by plants and humans

gardening lighting products

at the same time, the market potential of gardening solid-state lighting is driving new lighting manufacturers to enter the market segment. For example, Hubbell lighting launched the nutriled gardening lighting product series using 660 nm red LED and 460 nm blue LED (Figure 2). Tom Veltri, product manager of Hubbell's new product innovation, said that blue LED is the key to the vegetative growth stage of plants, while red LED can promote flowering and fruiting. Hubbell is using a two to one red blue blend, which Veltri says can serve the broadest segment of the horticultural market

Figure 2 Hubbell introduced stretchable nutriled lamps, which can be connected in parallel to form linear lamps

ask Veltri why Hubbell, as a mainstream lighting manufacturer, decided to enter the small market of gardening? Veltri said that the market potential drove this decision. He pointed out that Hubbell's survey showed that "many farmers have greenhouses covering an area of 1million to 2million square feet"

in addition to the previously mentioned market potential to improve plant productivity and energy conservation, Veltri also mentioned the trend of "from farm to table" and organic food, driving indoor farms. "Indoors, you can control the environment more effectively," he said The premise of "from farm to table" essentially requires growers to operate near populated areas

veltri also discussed the relationship between minimizing the distance between farms and consumers and crop yields. He said that in the harvest, transportation and shelf life, production will be lost. Reducing the transportation time and distance can reduce the loss of production and extend the shelf life

finally, indoor farms can be operated continuously, and only a small part of the traditional farm area can be used for production. Using LED lighting, farms can layer plants, such as lettuce, or plant 20 foot tall tomatoes. This tomato crop can be embedded, and the LED light belt can be hung vertically along the direction of plant growth. For example, if the LED is placed close to lettuce or tomato leaves, it will not burn the plants

lamp design

of course, compared with general lighting, gardening does need some different lamp design principles. Nutriled gardening lighting products designed by Hubbell are stretchable. This linear lamp has 2 and 4 feet, which can be combined in parallel (Figure 3) and connected end-to-end. Each lamp has a complete driver, and Hubbell provides a short power cord, which can connect up to 16 lamps to an AC power supply in a daisy chain

Figure 3 Nutriled lamps include built-in parabolic reflector, which can provide 60 ° beam pattern

greenhouse and professional applications

of course, the application of LED in gardening is not only indoors. Many greenhouses need supplementary lighting. For example, lumigrow, a horticultural lighting manufacturer, recently published a case study with Patterson greenhouses in Broadway, North Carolina. Patterson is using lumigrow lamps in the most widely used types of conventional plastic granulator equipment to extend the growing season of tomatoes, especially in relatively warm areas of the United States

owner Ryan Patterson said, "if you average the amount of sunlight received every winter, it seems that we don't need additional light. If it's cloudy for three consecutive days, plants won't get what they need, so they don't grow much or fast. Those tomatoes under lumigrow lights are more viable than those without lights."

patterson installed artificial lighting in only one third of his farms and recorded the results. He said that in the early stage of plant growth, thicker stems are more beneficial. The diameter of plants under artificial lighting is 0.63 inch larger than that of plants without artificial lighting

the application scale of LED based plant lighting can also be adjusted. As a backyard gardener, consumers can find LED lights like the largest commercial farmers. For example, Sweden's heliospectra impact testing machine buffer basic knowledge analysis: the system provided also includes providing water supply control for customers

gardening potential

in fact, the sales potential of gardening LED lighting is impossible to predict, especially the research has found a new way to improve productivity by using solid-state lighting. But just like ordinary LED lighting, growers also have some problems with LED technology. "Many growers have bad experiences with LEDs," said Hubbell's Veltri Many early products did not meet the specifications and came from small suppliers or overseas manufacturers with insufficient experience in the design of complex solid-state lighting systems

however, the advantages of LED will enable most growers to adopt this technology at some time (Figure 4). Peiler of OSRAM points out that applications such as "close range lighting of lettuce" can absolutely only use LEDs. She added: "today, we are sure to see more activity."

Figure 4 The top picture shows that plants thrive under the nutriled lighting of Hubbell lighting company; The other three figures show that the city lettuce farm adopts LED lamps developed by GE Japan to increase production in a controlled environment

ongoing research is both good and bad. Academia may eventually provide different spectra for each type of plant. About the selection and combination of LEDs, the relationship between the working intensity characteristics of Hubbell's Veltri and temperature; "It all depends on the type of plant you are planting, and they all use different spectra," he said Obviously, the concept of intelligent lighting and adjustable spectrum plays an important role in gardening