Lighting Research Spotlight

How many light fixtures do you need in a greenhouse?

Thinking of adding or upgrading supplemental grow lights in your greenhouse? Then the article “How Many Light Fixtures Do I Need?” written by GLASE Principal Investigator Dr. Neil Mattson and published in the e-Gro Edible Alert is a must read.

Mattson walks you through estimating how many fixtures you need if you know your target light intensity in micromoles per square meter per second (µmol/m2/s) and the light output in micromoles per second (µmol/s) from a given fixture. You can also estimate your annual electricity bill from using the lights if you know the power consumption of a fixture (in Watts) and an estimate of how many hours it will be operating during the year.

To further lower implementation and operational costs of horticultural LED lighting systems, GLASE is developing controlled environment agriculture (CEA)-specific technologies. The goal of these technologies is to improve lighting design recommendations and to support growers during the decision-making process to define an optimal system.

New technologies serving commercial lighting companies include the development of integrated CEA buildings, energy simulation engines, integrated control system simulations, and investigations of light distribution patterns in tall plant canopies. The development of a framework to compare energy and cost impacts of various lighting systems designed for horticultural applications will assist CEA growers in determining an optimal technology to fit their specific needs. 

For more information, please visit the GLASE website at www.glase.org
Picture courtesy of Tessa Pocock