Agenda:
Background of Fionia Lighting A/S
Technical possibilities and challenges for the use of LED lighting in greenhouse plant cultivation.
Summary:
Supplemental artificial light is very important for plant cultivation, especially during the winter months in a country such as Denmark. The current lighting technology used in the horticultural industry is the high pressure sodium (HPS) lamp. This has won through by virtue of a relatively high overall light yield and an emission spectrum predominantly in the yellow-red region. However, of the output power from such a lamp, only 40% goes to PAR radiation, while 30% is infra red and 30% thermal radiation. The advantage of LED-technology is their ability to produce narrow spectral bandwidth (20 – 30 nm), allowing the targeting of specific wavelengths, such as the red and blue peaks in the absorption spectra of chlorophyll. In this way the spectrum can be tailored to give optimal growth, by increasing the energy transfer efficiency to the plant.
The challenge of implementing LED-fixtures for greenhouses consists of several research areas such as photosynthesis, power electronics, heat removal and the design of intelligent optics.
This lecture is given by Research Engineer in Fionia Lighting Thomas Rubæk
