The established technology for supplemental lighting in the nursery garden sector is the high pressure sodium (HPS) lamp, and to a much lesser degree fluorescent and filament lamps. The HPS lamp has been the most widely chosen technology for decades, because it is the cheapest way to produce high intensity light. Despite this, only about 40% of the electrical energy input to a HPS lamp is emitted as visible light, with the rest being converted to infrared emission and heat.
It is well-documented in the literature, that physiological studies of plant growth have demonstrated that photosynthesis is most efficient for light in the blue (400 – 500 nm) and red (600 – 700 nm) regions of the visible spectrum due to high absorption in chlorophyll at these wavelengths. Therefore, it is commonly acknowledged that traditional HPS lamps, which predominantly emit orange light, can be replaced with LEDs emitting light specifically targeting the most efficient photosynthetic wavelengths, resulting in significant energy savings. However, it is only recently, through the arrival of high brightness LEDs and their implementation in the automotive and retail markets, that LED technology has reached a level of maturity and cost-effectiveness, which justifies its use in large-area illumination applications such as supplemental lighting in the horticulture industry.
Fionia Lighting is working on a technology shift from traditional lighting to new innovative LED luminaires.
