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What Is The Impact of LED Grow Lights On Indoor Horticulture Crops?
Posted on 01/29/2019 by David Kuack, HortAmericas.com
Michigan State University researchers are studying the effects of sole source LED grow lights on edible and ornamental crops.
Michigan State University opened its Controlled-Environment Lighting Laboratory (CELL) in 2017. The 400-square-foot vertical farm research facility is being used to study the indoor production of high-value specialty crops, including edibles and ornamentals with LED grow lights.
“The two major crops that we are studying are leafy greens, including red and green leaf lettuce, and floriculture transplants, specifically seedlings,” said horticulture professor Erik Runkle. “We are fairly new to leafy greens. We started performing research with them about three years ago, whereas, we’ve been working with indoor lighting of floriculture plugs since 2011. What has been interesting is to compare and contrast responses among the different crops. Not surprisingly there are a lot more similarities than there are differences.”
The indoor lighting research being conducted in the lighting laboratory is only with LED grow lights. The LED fixtures that are being used were designed by OSRAM. A similar OSRAM LED product is now being marketed as Phytofy.
“The OSRAM fixtures we are using in our studies deliver seven different wavebands and each one can be independently controlled,” Runkle said. “We are using the OSRAM fixture in all of our indoor lighting studies. This fixture features a sophisticated lighting system that enables us to deliver an infinitesimal number of combinations of light intensities and different wavebands.
“Some of studies being conducted could relate to greenhouse production, but more often the research results we learn indoors won’t apply to greenhouses. In greenhouses we are supplementing sunlight. What we have found is the light spectrum has less of an effect in the greenhouse because there is all the background sunlight compared to indoor production. The ability to control these different growth and quality traits is significantly greater with indoor lighting than in a greenhouse.”
Using light to manipulate plant growth
Runkle said working with different crops, the indoor lighting research being conducted is trying to elicit some very different quality traits.
“Seedlings are typically grown economically in greenhouses,” he said. “To produce anything indoors is going to be more expensive. The challenge and the reason that we are looking at ornamentals in indoor production is that there is still a lot of seasonal variability.
“If there is a period of extended cloudiness or period of sunny weather that normally doesn’t occur, these unpredictable weather conditions can result in plants that finish too early or too late. Growing plants indoors takes a lot of those issues out of the picture because the environmental conditions can be completely controlled.”
Runkle said the research with leafy greens will look at the impact light can have on different attributes of the plants.
“With leafy greens, growers are more concerned with consumer preferences for flavor and texture, as well as the yield and the biomass of the plants,” he said. “In part, light can be used to manipulate these different attributes. With floriculture crops, growers are typically trying to produce a small, compact plant, and in some cases trying to develop flower buds early. In other cases, growers are trying to delay flowering.”
Leafy greens research at Michigan State will focus on the impact light can have on different attributes, such as texture and yield.
Photos courtesy of Erik Runkle, Mich. St. Univ.
Runkle said with floriculture crops the focus is on flowering and the growth aspects for compactness.
“A lot of time can be taken out of production through lighting edible and ornamental crops,” he said. “For leafy greens, the production time can be cut in half compared to the field crops. For floriculture crops, production time can be reduced by a week or two depending on the crop.”
Another area of research Runkle is interested in studying is to determine how light interacts with other environmental parameters, especially temperature.
“Right now we are focused on lighting and that is what a lot of my colleagues are doing as well,” he said. “But we also need to consider temperature effects on the growth rate of plants. By manipulating temperature and light we can probably reduce the production time even more than we have been able to achieve.”
The effects of different wavebands
Most of the LED grow light research that has been done with leafy greens has studied the effects of red and blue light.
“We have a fairly good understanding of the interaction between red and blue light and how that affects leafy greens,” Runkle said.
“The two wavebands for which much less information has been collected are green and far red. The most recent work that we have done is to look at both of these wavebands in independent experiments. Far red is a little more predictable and better known. We probably know the least amount about green light. Our group is focusing on some of these lesser used wavebands and trying to evaluate whether there is a fit, a need or a benefit to including them in a lighting fixture vs. sticking with a white light fixture or red/blue fixture.”
Researchers at Michigan State will study the impact of adding far red wavebands to the light spectrum on floriculture crops.
For the floriculture crops Runkle is studying, the focus is on collecting more details on the benefits of adding far red to the light spectrum.
“We know that there are benefits to far red, but how much far red needs to be delivered to get the positive benefits, which would be early flowering without the drawback of growth extension,” he said. “It’s really trying to dial in that waveband, particularly how much far red is needed.
“One of the things that we have learned is that inclusion or addition of far red light accelerates flowering of some long-day plants. What we are trying to determine is in which crops the far red promotion of flowering occurs and how much is needed to accelerate flowering. We’ve also been investigating how far red light interacts with other wavebands, particularly blue light, as well as how it interacts with total light intensity.”
Quantifying different growth responses
One of the studies being done by Runkle’s research team is comparing the effects of different light spectrum wavebands to white light LEDs.
“Some white LED grow lights are relatively inexpensive,” he said. “We want to determine if there is a benefit to the customized spectrums, which would probably make them a more expensive product. Growers could decide whether to purchase fixtures with a fairly unique spectrum and receive their benefits.
“Is it worth the extra cost to get these benefits? We don’t have specific numbers now, but the goal is to be able to quantify different growth responses under different light treatments. Information from our research, as well as from others working in the area, could help growers choose between a general inexpensive LED grow light to produce moderately good plants or spend more on fixtures to produce plants that flower earlier or have some other attributes that are desirable.”
Runkle said some companies are manufacturing customizable fixtures for growers.
“The major downside of these customizable fixtures is that they are often times more expensive than fixtures with a fixed spectrum,” he said. “Then the question for the growers is whether having the ability to tailor or adjust the spectrum worth the added cost. That is a hard question to answer at this point. It’s going to be situational. I’ve seen general fixtures marketed for the lighting of plants. I haven’t seen fixtures marketed yet for specific crop types.”
![[Going Green 1] Introducing Healthy Vertical Farming](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57c8695d5016e11e71be1d83/1556172609090-XQN5CRYWTXGAJ5TRUPRX/index.jpg)
[Going Green 1] Introducing Healthy Vertical Farming
April 23, 2019
Agricultural innovations are essential for feeding our ever-growing global population. Especially these days, as industrialization and global warming continue to negatively affect soil fertility and reduce the amount of arable land.
According to the United Nations, the world’s population is set to reach 9.8 billion by 2050. Such a large population would require approximately 1.7 times more food than is available now.
One potential solution for addressing the world’s need for more healthy and abundant food production is vertical farming – a process that’s growing increasingly popular in places like Europe, the U.S. and Japan, and involves food being grown indoors in vertically stacked layers.
Stable Food Production
What makes vertical farming such an efficient and viable means to produce food are the facts that it (1) saves space, and (2) allows farmers to grow crops all year round, regardless of climate or season.
Interest in vertical farming has been rapidly growing in recent years. Market research firm MarketsandMarkets predicts that the global market for vertical farming will be worth $18.4 billion by 2022, which is twice as much as the market was valued in 2016 ($9 billion).
Innovating for a Greener Future
The movement for healthy, sustainable food production is spreading across the world, and Samsung is committed to driving innovation in this area.
Last spring, Samsung announced the launch of a wide range of horticulture LED offerings that produce a broad spectrum of light to support healthy plant growth. On April 23, Samsung introduced an update to the LM301H, which features the highest photon efficacy among today’s mid-power white LED packages. The company has also revealed a number of exciting innovations designed to make it easy for consumers to grow and enjoy fresh, healthy vegetables from the comfort of their home.
Samsung also made waves at this year’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show in Las Vegas with its all-new Chef Garden technology, which offers a simple, environmentally friendly way to grow food at home. Chef Garden integrates seamlessly with Samsung’s next-generation Family Hub refrigerator, and automatically regulates light wavelengths to enable users to grow and enjoy fresh, pesticide-free fruit and vegetables all year round.
“There is a growing interest in healthy food,” said Chohui Kim of Samsung Electronics’ LED Technology Center. “Horticulture LED is playing a key role in vertical farming and indoor crop cultivation, and we are looking to expand its applications in various fields.”
The second part of Samsung Electronics’ “Going Green” series will highlight technology trends and the company’s efforts regarding eco-friendly crop cultivation in detail.
Chef Garden Going Green horticulture LEDLM301H PLANTBOX vertical farming
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Optimising The Modern Farm With LED's At Philips Growwise
Posted by Olga Koltsova | April 17, 2019
© Signify
Vertical farming or city farming – the growth of plants indoors stacked in vertical layers – fully depends on the artificial lighting instead of sunlight. Philips Lighting started working on light products for indoor farming in 2010 together with HAS university and eventually created Philips GrowWise – the research centre in Eindhoven that finds optimal LED-light recipes for indoor farming and develops custom-built vertical farms projects.
YIELD, QUALITY AND RELIABILITY OF A VERTICAL FARM
Global Director City Farming in Signify, Roel Janssen, says that vertical farming has three main benefits. The first advantage of city farming is a higher yield of produce from a square meter of the floor space due to the use of multiple layers – this is very useful in the densely populated areas like Mumbai, Tokyo or Singapore, where a square meter of land is quite expensive. “On one square meter, a vertical farm can produce much more than you would have in a normal field. For example, for growing around 20 kg of lettuce on 1 m2 in California farmers use 200 litres of water per kilogram but in GrowWise facility, we harvest 100 kg from 1 m2 with less than 2 l of water per kilogram.” So vertical farming helps to increase the yield per square meter of actual floor space.
One more merit of a vertical farm is the quality of produce, and Roel Janssen emphasises that quality is the main advantage of city farming: “The quality greatly depends on operating the indoor farm in a right way: if you make sure that the hygiene is up to the proper standards, if you automate most of your production and keep close control over the facility, you can improve the nutritional value of the crops.” Researchers of GrowWise have found light recipes to increase vitamin C content in mint and rocket, and to increase the content of volatiles (aromatic components) in basil. The strawberries that are grown in the controlled environment of GrowWise have a higher Brix value – they are sweeter than strawberries from the open field.
Nowadays lettuce is the most popular crop that is grown in vertical farms, and its quality can be improved. Janssen says: “If you have a bagged salad, often there are red varieties in there, such as lollo rosso. This lettuce is red because of the response to the ultraviolet in the spectrum of the sun. Since we grow the red variety without UV, our ‘red’ lettuce stays mostly green. Three days before the harvest we have a specific pre-harvest light recipe that triggers the colouration of the lettuce. We use a different combination of red and blue and change the daylength, which intensifies the production of anthocyanins (important antioxidants) and makes the lettuce red again after only three days of treatment. This is how we can grow the lettuce in the most optimal way, have a high yield and increased nutritional value. When the lettuce is grown outside, the accumulation of anthocyanins is gradual, and the growth is slower.”
Janssen says that the reliability of the growing process belongs to the benefits of indoor farming as well: “If you do everything properly and get no foreign bodies in your produce, you will always have a constant quality and you can have the same produce all year round.” The reliability of farming indoors also means that the growers can be flexible on the market – they can regulate the growth of produce in accordance with the demands of the customers.
© Signify
HOW TO TWEAK A PLANT IN A VERTICAL FARM
Climate, says Janssen, is the most important tool of indoor farming: most of the water captured by the plant is evaporated, the air becomes humid and it is necessary to remove it from the room. “Light, temperature and CO2 are the main drivers of production and yield. For us in GrowWise the main drivers are, obviously, light and light recipes,” says Janssen. Irrigation and fertigation in the water can influence the growth but also can influence nutrient uptake: “If you want to have low-potassium lettuce, at the end of the growth cycle you can stop adding potassium to the water.”
Seed variety is also an instrument of ‘tweaking’ the crops. “The main goal of the seed breeders is to develop varieties that can resist the environment: breeders want to develop crops that can resist bugs, diseases and temperature shifts. For an indoor farmer, the weather is not crucial – it is always springtime in our climate cells, and the temperature is constant. If we do everything with proper hygiene, there are no diseases. Breeders have already developed seed varieties for indoors: for greenhouses and hydroponic systems. The next step would be to develop specific varieties for the vertical farming – to breed and select for the yield, quality or reliability.”
Currently, GrowWise selects from the available seed varieties together with the breeders. “We work with six-seven breeders to make a selection of the best varieties of crops for indoor farming: we carry out the selection trials to see how the plants perform in the environment without daylight. Maybe we can find varieties that meet our needs and are interesting for us – then the breeders will scale up production. Testing the varieties of crops with us helps the breeders because we will give advice to our customers: we know for sure that this variety works well and gives big yields.”
WHAT TO GROW IN A VERTICAL FARM
By far the most cultivated crops in GrowWise facilities are lettuce and basil. “We have tried over 200-300 varieties of lettuce here,” says Roel Janssen. “Our main focus is on leafy greens because all the energy that you put into those plants is paid back when you sell the produce. If you grow, for example, strawberries, you first need to grow the plant for about two months before it starts fruiting.”
On the racks of the climate cells in GrowWise there are also various baby leaves – 6-10 cm high – red sorrel, mustard leaf, mint, rocket. “We have grown strawberries, cucumbers, kohlrabi, broccoli, even melons – all sorts of crops. It was purely experimental – to see what the possibilities are. However, not all of the crops have commercial viability at his point. The ones that we think are the closest to be economically viable are all the leafy greens, then fruits.” GrowWise is planning to start growing raspberries soon. One of the cells is being re-equipped for the high-wire crops: tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers. “In about two months we will grow tomatoes here, on the third floor of a building,” says Janssen.
In order to succeed, startups should be able to sell the added value of a vertical farm – the higher nutritional value of the produce
WHY VERTICAL FARMS FAIL
Why do vertical farming startups fail? Roel Janssen says that the outcomes greatly depend on the mindset of a company toward innovation. “In the Netherlands, we have a very open way of innovating, especially in the horticultural industry, so cooperation, communication and transfer of knowledge are the basis of the business. But in the USA, for example, people who set up a vertical farm often plan to create intellectual property, patents and a unique design system all by themselves – so, basically, they try to reinvent the wheel and that makes the whole thing difficult. So, they do a lot of things by themselves and eventually they come to the strategy of open innovation and try to find the best partners in different segments, but it takes time. Most of such companies eventually come to us – when they visit us, look at automation, light, and climate control, they typically end up being our partners as well.” “Philips GrowWise obviously supplies the light solutions for indoor farming but also the knowledge on growing crops in a vertical farm and the knowledge on the design of the indoor farming facilities. We have a global partnership program that includes 40 technical parties – they do the full engineering and implementation of the ideas that we develop with the customers.”
Another reason why indoor farms are not feasible is that some vertical farming startups keep their capex as low as possible in the very beginning of their work: “There are vertical farming startups that install indoor farm racks in a warehouse and then stop caring about hygiene factors, climate and scalability. Lots of them produce some crops, come to the market early without knowing how to scale, they are not consistent in supply and they don’t have a good distribution channel – that is why they fail,” says Janssen. “In order to succeed, startups should be able to sell the added value of a vertical farm – the higher nutritional value of the produce, which is also always clean and has a longer shelf life. If the companies don’t have a reproducible, scalable business model and operational mode, they don’t sell that added value, hence fail – that is what is seen in lots of cases, especially in the USA. If someone puts some containers to grow leafy greens then delivers them on a bike around the city and supply some produce to the market, this is not really scalable and financially feasible.”
Janssen admits that a certain level of professionalism in indoor farming needs to be built, but there is no standard yet – and this is the biggest challenge for the industry. “If you look at the example of greenhouses, there is a standard for all of the constructions of that type – it’s a Dutch Venlo greenhouse. Almost all over the world, you can see greenhouses that are very comparable to it in size and dimensions, so all of the technology is built for those dimensions. Here, in our vertical farming facility, we have done research on at least 20 different substrates and at least on 5 different growing systems, but there is no one winning model yet. People are still developing a standard for vertical farming. And we try to develop it in a very open way – together with our customers in order to be successful.”
THE SOLUTION TO GLOBAL FOOD PROBLEMS?
Roel Janssen says: “If a crop is not in the greenhouse at this point we don’t expect it to be in a vertical farm very soon, because first it is much more convenient to grow something in a greenhouse – you can build greenhouses around the city and then transport the produce.” According to Janssen, most of the food shortage issues nowadays are caused by the logistics problems – grains, potatoes are relatively easy to transport, they are just not always transported to the right regions due to the economic and political reasons. What can be achieved with indoor farming is the possibility of supplying more nutritious local food – and that is what is already being done. Greenhouses can be gradually transformed to produce more nutritious crops than they do to feed the regions with food quality problems. Janssen concludes: “I don’t think indoor farming is the solution to this world’s food shortage problem. Greenhouses combined with indoor farming cannot prevent the global food crisis, but they can play a role in improving the situation.”
Vertical farming also has the potential for the production of functional food: if one has kidney problems and would like to eat lettuce with less potassium, it makes sense to produce this lettuce in an indoor farm. It is more difficult to grow low-potassium lettuce in a greenhouse or in an open field because there the growers have to rely on sunlight, which influences the nutritional content in an uncontrolled way. Indoor farming can also develop its potential for the cultivation of pharmaceutical crops – to influence their nutritional content in a controlled way.
HOW TO BUILD AN INDOOR FARM
The process of creating an indoor farm for GrowWise begins like that: customers look through business cases based on ten years’ experience to have a better understanding of what might meet their requirements. Then the research centre with its partners prepares a model, which helps the customers to assume a cost per kilogram of produce: “We take the growing results that we have achieved in all the project done in GrowWise and in Brightbox (vertical farming expertise centre at the Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo) and also done for our customers to come up with the yield prediction, which is based on a facility of a certain dimensions. We assume certain costs of the investment, and we can come up with the price per kilo of produce. We put it into the business model and if that kind of model works for the customer, we start to discuss the system architecture. We involve our partners who do the detailed engineering: automation, sowing lines, transplanting, germination, growing rooms, climate and irrigation control, CO2 control, spacing, lighting – all of that is considered. Our partners also implement engineering for customers. Typically, the process of creating a vertical farm from the beginning to the implementation takes at least a year. The construction lasts roughly six months and during this time we repeatedly grow the leafy greens to validate the results, so as in three months the customers can have a pretty solid, validated reproducible growth recipe. Then it is necessary to design the facility, make sure that all the partners communicate well, integrate everything, engineer that and implement it. This is how you build a large-scale automated vertical farm.”
“If someone wants to create a small scale research room such as the ones we have here, it’s fairly easy to build – but it can only be useful for a first rough estimation before doing research. If you want to make a vertical farm scalable, automation is the best way to do it.”
PLANT FACTORIES
“In Asia vertical farms are called “plant factories” which may sound as something very artificial for us here, in Europe, but in fact it is quite a good name for an indoor farm facility, because if you run it as a factory, you make sure that everything is controlled, reproducible and scalable – that us what is important if you really want to be successful as an indoor farmer. In Asia consumers view a factory as something well controlled, hence maintaining good quality standards, that is why a “plant factory” term is appealing to the Asian customers. In Europe consumers like the term “indoor farm” more, because “a farm” sounds nicer and warmer than a factory. People prefer to imagine somebody with a beard and dirty hands growing crops because it resembles a farm. By the way, when we introduced bumblebees into our facilities to pollinate the strawberries, everybody loved it and then, all of a sudden, an indoor research facility from artificial and factory-like became nice and cosy.”
Tags: GrowWise, indoor farming, Philips Lighting
Signify Expands In Belgian Horticulture Market With New TOMCO Project
Signify today announced its second horticulture project with tomato grower Luc Coghe to install full LED lighting in a newly built 10 hectares greenhouse in Roeselare, Belgium. Since 2014, Luc Coghe, Owner of TOMCO and his wife, Greet Biesbrouck, have increased yields and improved the quality and taste of high wire tomatoes grown under a combination of Philips GreenPower LED interlighting and high-pressure sodium (HPS) lighting at their Biesbrouck Company. Based on this success, they are moving to a full Philips LED lighting system for their newest greenhouse.
The new greenhouse is equipped with a combination of Philips LED toplighting and interlighting that produces a total of 225 µmol/m2/s. LEDs produce little heat so planting can start earlier and therefore the plants can be given more light in the spring and summer. “I expect this system to bring in higher yields and more predictable production for my customers. LEDs should also help us differentiate ourselves in terms of quality and taste, as we have experienced at our Biesbrouck location,” said Coghe. “More importantly, my greenhouse is future proof with full LED.”
“We are seeing a great demand for our Philips GreenPower LED solutions in the Belgian market,” said Udo van Slooten, Business Leader Horticulture at Signify. “Not only has Luc Coghe decided to reinvest in LEDs. Other companies in Belgium that have made that move recently include Den Boschkant and Tomaline with hybrid toplighting combining LED and HPS and Ceulemans. That is because they trust that our Philips products will help them achieve higher yield and a better-quality crop.”
TOMCO is planning to grow the variety Xandor in the new greenhouse. The project is being carried out with Philips LED Horti Partner MAIS AUTOMATISERING NV and the plants are expected to go in in June 2019
Grow Light Global Market Estimated To Reach USD 5.80 Billion By 2022
The Grow Light Market is growing at the rapid pace; mainly due to the increasing government initiatives to adopt technologies. According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, Globally, the market for Grow Light is expected to gain prominence over the forecast period.
Business, Economy, Finances, Banking & Insurance
Press release from: Market Research Future
Global Grow Light Market, By Technology (LED, High Intensity Discharge, Fluorescent Lighting), By Installation (New Installation, Retrofit), By Application (Indoor Framing, Commercial Greenhouse, Vertical Framing) - Forecast 2022
Grow Light Global Market – Overview
The Grow Light Market is growing at the rapid pace; mainly due to the increasing government initiatives to adopt technologies. According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, Globally, the market for Grow Light is expected to gain prominence over the forecast period. The market is forecasted to witness a thriving growth by 2022, surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value with a striking CAGR during the anticipated period. Globally the Grow Light Market is expected to reach 5.80 Billion by 2022 at CAGR of more than ~13% from 2016 to 2022.
The key drivers contributing to the growth of the grow light market are growth in the indoor farming, government initiatives to adopt technologies such as LED, growing demand for energy efficiency, long lasting ‘Grow technology’ and environmentally safe products. Also, the demand for these products is increasing in countries such as Netherlands where supplemental lighting is required throughout the year.
However, low awareness among consumers, high cost of capital are the factors hindering the growth of the overall growth of the market. Whereas, high reliability, low power consumption, high commercial greenhouse practices are also propelling the growth of the grow light market.
Grow light is an electric light rather an artificial source of light which is designed to stimulate plant growth by emitting an electromagnetic spectrum for photosynthesis. Grow light is widely used in applications where natural light is not available or where supplemental light required. It is basically a type of electronic lamp designed to accelerate plant growth by electronic magnetic spectrum.
Plant factories support farming practices that are not dependent on the climate. Food factories produce organic vegetables. With the land available for farming depleting quickly, new types of farming are evolving.
Double Ended HPS lights are typically used in large commercial greenhouse or large indoor commercial gardening applications where high ceilings require more powerful lights to reach the plants. DE HPS lights are ideal for flowering and fruit production.
UV Light Bulbs are beneficial for plants. UV light activates a plant’s defence mechanisms. UV causes plants to produce oils, antioxidant vitamins and flavonoids to protect themselves from the damaging effects of UV. These compounds produce the vibrant colours, smells and tastes of your plants. If the light source does not produce UV, the colour, smell and taste of the produce gets changed effectively.
LED specialized grow lights. LED specialized grow lights offer homogenous light distribution. Light distribution at precisely the right wavelengths is made possible. LED light sources offer light distribution for good photosynthetic response. Vendors are able to stimulate plant growth. Flora series LEDs provide accelerated photosynthesis and energy savings.
Grow lamps are used in a wide variety of applications, including Home hobbyist, Agricultural universities, Educational programs, Plant physiological research, Biotechnology, Pharmacology, Greenhouses and Plant factories.
Grow Light Market - Competitive Analysis
Characterized by the presence of several major well-established players, the global Market of Grow Light appears to be highly competitive. Well established players incorporate acquisition, collaboration, partnership, expansion, and technology launch in order to gain competitive advantage in this market and to maintain their market position. Strategic partnerships between Key players support the growth and expansion plans of the key players during the forecast period. The Key players operating in the market compete based on product & technology launch, reputation and services. Well established players invest heavily in the R&D to develop products with the adept technologies that are completely on a different level compared to their competition, unrivalled design and features.
Key Players
• Osram LichtAG (Germany)
• General Electric Company (U.S.)
• Iwasaki Electric Co., Ltd. (Japan)
• LumiGrow, Inc. (U.S.)
• Gavita Holland B.V. (Netherlands)
• Hortilux Schreder B.V. (Netherlands)
• Sunlight Supply, Inc. (U.S.)
• Heliospectra AB (Sweden)
• Royal Philips (Netherlands)
• Platinum LED Lights LLC (U.S.)
The Global Grow Light Market is segmented in to 4 key dynamics for the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding;
Segmentation By Technology : Comprises LED, High Intensity Discharge, Fluorescent Lighting and other.
Segmentation By Installation : Comprises New Installation, Retrofit.
Segmentation By Application : Comprises Indoor Framing, Commercial Greenhouse, Vertical Framing, Landscaping and other.
Segmentation By Regions : Comprises Geographical regions - North America, Europe, APAC and
Rest of the World.
Out of these applications, vertical farming accounted for the largest market share because it allows the growing of more number of plants within a single enclosed structure, with the usage of artificial lightings and these can be produce fruits and vegetables throughout the year, within urban areas. Grow light is an electric light rather an artificial source of light which is designed to stimulate plant growth by emitting an electromagnetic spectrum for photosynthesis. Grow light is widely used in applications where natural light is not available or where supplemental light required. It is basically a type of electronic lamp designed to accelerate plant growth by electronic magnetic spectrum.
The key drivers contributing to the growth of the grow light market are growth in the indoor farming, government initiatives to adopt technologies such as LED, growing demand for energy efficiency, long lasting grow technology and environmentally safe products. Also, the demand for these products is increasing in countries such as Netherlands where supplemental lighting is required throughout the year.
Grow Light Global Market – Regional Analysis
Geographically, Europe accounted for the largest market share in the global grow light market, whereas Asia-Pacific is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period. Europe accounted for the largest market share, because Netherlands is a leading exporter of horticultural produce which increases the usage of commercial greenhouse. Also, the concept of vertical farming is gaining popularity in this region.
Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period, majorly due to increasing awareness about the benefits of this technology.
The Effect of Far-Red Enriched Spectra On Lettuce
One of the exciting features of LED grow lights is the ability to customize spectrums of light to fit various plant growth applications. Therefore understanding the relationship between light and plant growth is key for healthy, high-quality crop production.
Plants do not only utilize light for photosynthesis, but different light spectrums can be used to promote different growth responses in plants, at different growth stages.
Researching the effect of far-red
A research study was conducted by Heliospectra’s Plant and Light Experts on the effect of a Far-red enriched spectra on Black-Seeded Simpson. The purpose of the research was to study the effect of Far-red enriched spectrum on lettuce in a sole-source light environment.
The Far-red wavelength peaks around 735 nm, this waveband is not included in Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) which range from 400-700 nm but has been proven to steer growth responses in plants.
The research was conducted in Heliospectra’s plant lab using Heliospectra’s fully adjustable Elixia LED grow light. The lights have the ability to control and monitor provide growers with full control over the composition of the spectrum, intensity, and duration, giving growers the possibility to create their own light strategies.
The lettuce was seeded in 7x7 cm (2.7x2.7 in) pots with a mix of soil substrate and vermiculite. Four days after germination pots containing one plant were placed into a LED growth unit (1.4-m², 15ft² open area) with reflective curtains. The plants were grown under four different spectra, all with the same light intensity (200 mol/m2/s) and spectral composition within PAR (red, blue and white wavelengths), three of the four spectra had additional Far-red added to their spectrum at different intensities (Low, Mid, and High).
The lettuce were grown under LED light for a total of 22 days and the experiment was repeated 3 times.
Clear visual difference
At harvest, 5 pots per treatment were collected and measured. The lettuce head diameter was measured with accuracy of 0.5 cm with a ruler, and fresh weight were taken per plant with a scale (Mettler P1200).
A clear difference could be seen in height and size of the lettuce at harvest depending on the light strategy. With the head diameter and weight increased proportionately to the increase of amount of Far-red used.
These results indicate that far-red added to the spectrum has great impact on the growth of Black-Seeded Simpson lettuce. In a controlled sole-source environment, the spectral quality is of high importance, and gives growers a real potential to steer the visual appearance of the crop grown to fit their production goals.
Click here to download a summary of the test.
For more information:
Heliospectra
Box 5401 SE-402 29 Göteborg Sweden
Phone: +46 31 40 67 10
Fax: +46 31 83 37 82
info@heliospectra.com
www.heliospectra.com
Publication date : 3/15/2019
Philips GreenPower LEDs Help Prime Delica To Grow Healthier And Safer Crops For 7-Eleven Customers In Japan
Prime Delica’s new vertical farm facility in Sagamihara ensures year-round supply of high-quality lettuce, spinach and coriander
Prime Delica conducted research with Tamagawa University, CCS and Signify to determine the optimal light recipe to increase vitamin levels and nutritional value of lettuce
The entire seeding-to-harvest process is automated and can produce up to 3,200 kg of lettuce daily
Signify helps Japanese food supplier Prime Delica to grow high-quality lettuce varieties, spinach and coriander all year round using the Philips GreenPower LED production module range and offer customers of 7-Eleven crops with higher vitamin levels and nutritional value.
Demand for quality
Prime Delica has been a longtime premium delicatessen supplier to 7-Eleven. To meet increasing demand for fresh, healthy and pesticide-free food, Prime Delica built a new large-scale vertical farm in the city of Sagamihara in the Kanagawa prefecture, Japan.
“It’s difficult to get a good quality and stable food supply from the open field due to the effect of climate change on crop growth,” said Mr. Kazuki Furuya, President of 7-Eleven. “We believe the Sagamihara vertical farm is a great step to guarantee safe and healthy food for our customers.”
Backed by research
“We always aim for the best quality crops and want to guarantee customers a stable supply of healthy vegetables,” said Masayoshi Saito, president of Prime Delica. “LED lighting makes it possible to steer the cultivation process by adjusting the color, duration and positioning of the lighting. After years of research with Tamagawa University, CCS and the plant specialists at Signify, we have found our recipe for growth with Philips GreenPower LED production modules, which allow us to fully control the growth cycle of our crops with the right lighting strategy.”
High value crop
Prime Delica uses different light recipes at different growth stages for each of the crops, with a pre-harvest treatment to increase the vitamin C level to meet functional food requirements. Apart from the premium quality, crops coming from their vertical farm also have a much lower bacterial count and are grown using no pesticides, a big advantage for 7-Eleven.
“We do not use any pesticides because our crops grow in a closed environment, which also means there is no air contamination,” explained Mr. Saito. “Our crops can be delivered to 7-Eleven stores within 48 hours from harvest and are very fresh and full of vitamins. The cost price per crop is higher than in the open field. However, the overall costs of processing are vastly reduced in terms of logistics, checking and washing with very little waste. It’s a cost reduction mechanism if we consider the factory in total.”
Increased automation
Prime Delica has automated the entire process from seeding to harvest, minimizing manual operation time and improving the hygiene of the crops. Robots carry out logistical operations. A total lettuce growth cycle (frillice, red leaf and bimittuce varieties) from seeding to harvesting now only takes about 39 days, compared to 70 days in the open field. Production can even reach up to 3,200 kg of lettuce a day.
The new Sagamihara facility started operating in January 2019, and the company is looking to expand further in 2019 and 2020. Prime Delica is considering to grow other crops like strawberries in similar vertical farm facilities in the future.
Spectrum King LED Granted US Patent For Proprietary Plant Spectrum
Spectrum King LED is proud to announce that we have been granted US Patent No. 10238043 for our proven proprietary plant spectrum.
This gives us exclusive rights to the full spectrum technology used in all of our grow lights. The result of over 10 years of detailed research, plant studies and multiple prototypes has brought us to this great day. This new patent reinforces our claim of being the leaders and founders of full spectrum horticultural lighting technology.
Russia: Vertical Farm Upgrades LEDs to Save on Energy
In greenhouses, supplemental lighting is often used, enhancing the sunlight and boosting the natural mechanism of photosynthesis in plants. In iFarm's vertical farms that are assembled in closed units with no access of light or air from the outside, LED lamps are used. They provide the plants with the required light spectrum for growth.
“In the beginning we purchased special lamps with various spectrums, bicolor and full spectrum ones, but we were not happy with their efficiency: they got as hot as radiators but provided little light”, shares the general director of iFarm, Aleksandr Lyskovskiy.
The first vegetables in the company's experimental bio-vegetarium were grown with the usage of such lamps. Further, iFarm began cooperation with a light equipment producer and got an opportunity to use the lamps with the most efficient LED existing at that moment. They showed a good result in terms of crops and energy consumption, requiring twice as little energy as the analogues, but they were rather costly.
iFarm specialists were confident that they could improve those lamps. For that purpose the chief engineer and head of the R&D department of the iFarm Project, Pavel Zeeman, unscrewed every singe lamp ever acquired by the company, browsed through tons of literature and recalled everything that he knew about LED lamps.
Square lamps were used in the vertical farm in the summer of 2018. As a result of their own research, iFarm determined the parameters for improved lighting under the conditions of a vertical farm, one of which is a high humidity level.
According to the chief engineer, iFarm lamps produce white light that includes blue, red, yellow and green spectrums, therefore fully replacing the sunlight. "Bicolor ones, which are often considered the most efficient ones", produce only the red and blue spectrums, which is much less healthy for the plants.
Due to the usage of highly efficient LED lamps, the company has reduced the energy consumption significantly, to 90 Watt per square meter. That allows for the decrease of greenery production cost and therefore makes the technology even more accessible for the franchisees.
Currently, a new big vertical farm is being constructed in a plot owned by the Vega Absolute company. The latter is acting as a technological partner of iFarm in lighting for the new project.
For more information:
iFarm
ifarmproject.ru
Publication date : 3/19/2019
"Vertical Fixture To Make Hop Cultivation More Sustainable"
Light Engine:
You probably won't notice it during Friday drinks, but there has been a shortage in hop for the production of beer. The hop that is normally grown in the open field has faced failed harvests. It is the reason hop growers are slowly switching to conditioned growth.
Climbing plant
Compared to the cultivation of tomatoes or cucumbers, hop cultivation looks rather strange to outsiders. The fast growing climbing plant grows to a height of several meters in a short time, and produces flowers which are used in the conservation of beer. When growing under controlled circumstances, lighting is one of the ways to increase the yield of the plant. And to make the cultivation even more sustainable, vertical lighting could be the solution, according to LED supplier Light Engine. They developed the Cabled vertical fixtures.
Optimal lighting
Ramon de Vrie, Light Engine: "The light is evenly distributed over the plants, reducing shadows. By placing the plants closer together, you can increase the yield. This is particularly important for growers who are reluctant to switch to conditioned cultivation due to the high energy costs. LED lighting is definitely more sustainable than regular lighting, and by placing the fixtures vertically we use the light optimally."
Looking for the ideal light recipe
Now there are various hop companies which have the Cabled hanging vertically in their greenhouse. They can be found in Hong Kong, the US, and Australia. Besides extensive experimenting in practice, Light Engine is looking for partners and laboratories to test which effects the lights have on the quality and productivity.
"We want to elaborate on the light spectra, wattage, and the number of light hours. When we have found the ideal light recipe, we expect that the grower will have a high yield of high quality." And so it can be that in a few years it will be normal to drink a beer from the greenhouse.
For more information
Huizhou Light Engine Limited
T: (86) 752-311 2222
ramonvandevrie@lightengine-tech.com
www.lightengine-tech.com
Publication date : 3/6/2019
Simple DIY Aquaponic System For The Home
Aquaponics is the art of growing plants in a system where fish and plants co-exist.
Mother nature has been doing this for as long as plants and fish have existed, humans
have been doing this since the beginning of farming and cultivation, but only recently
has it been brought back into the light with hydroponics. Gaining in popularity, this
technique has been proven to have many benefits for crops while being very eco-friendly.
So why should you add aquaponics to your hydroponic garden? Fish and plants have been working
together for a very long time, their practically soul mates. Bacteria from plants breaks down
the fish waste and feed, then converts it into plant food and nutrient. Organic matter contained
in fish feces and feed are also used for the conversion of fish generated ammonia to nitrate.
The plants consuming the dissolved waste nutrients filter the water for the fish. While
dedicated bio-filters and settlers can be added as precautionary measures, this system is
very self correcting, taking away the need for chemical usage such as fertilizers. Even PH levels are adjusted correctly assuming the fish tank and hydroponic setup is contaminant free.
Quick overview of the benefits
-No nutrients required
-PH balance is adjusted correctly on its own
-water is filtered on its own and recycled
-no chemical usage such as fertilizers and pesticides
-fish can be harvested as a second food source
-crops have a higher turn-around and higher yield
What you will need
This technique isn't just for large commercial agriculture companies, setups small enough to add in
your kitchen as a centerpiece or on a teachers desk for educational use can be easily created. With
all the benefits already known, why not add it in to any size of a hydroponic setup. If you already have
a hydroponic setup, all you will need to do is add in an aquarium/tank with the proper fish and you have a fully functional aquaponic system
Items required for indoor aquaponics
- Hydroponic system including plant bed, medium and tubes connecting to tank
- Grow light depending on where your hydroponic system is setup
- Aquarium or fish tank
- Water pump
- Power source for pump and grow light
- Ceramisite
- Fish
- Plants
Lets build!
Step 1 - Fill the black bottom tank to the water mark with clean uncontaminated water.
Step 2 - Find the small transparent tube and connect it to the water pump.
Step 3 - Connect the water pump to the transparent fish tank.
Step 4 - Place the buoy through the transparent tank into the black bottom tank.
Step 5 - Place the transparent tank on the black bottom tank then attach the pumps power
box onto the bottom tanks notch.
Step 6 - Attach the isolation plug to the solid tube at the top of the fish tank then fill
the tank with water up to the isolation plug.
Step 7 - Stack the top plant tray in alignment with the mountain tube.
Step 8 - Install the clear syphon tube into the flow adjustment switch.
step 9 - Add in your ceramisite until it fills the tray about an inch thick.
Step 10 - Add in your fish and plants!
What fish should you use?
Deciding on what type of fish you should use entirely depends on your setup. Large scale
with the purpose of farming and sustainability should have larger fish to produce more
waste and to carry the benefit of being able to harvest the fish for food. Small scale,
like the setup we just built will require smaller fish. Small also gives you the option
of choosing fish based on your perception of attractiveness. Decorative fish that can be
used in small setups like this are guppies, fancy goldfish, angelfish and swordfish. Some
people have taken is as far as creating environments for turtles, crayfish and even shrimp.
What plants should you use?
Most plants will thrive in an aquaponic environment, especially those commonly used for
agricultural purposes. Large scale operations will grow all kinds of vegetables such as
lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, spinach or anything grown on a farm. But since this setup is
small and more so decorative, smaller vegetable and herb plants can be used such as basil,
mint, watercress, chives, parsley, lemon grass, oregano, thyme, succulents and many more.
Get started!
Although the idea of aquaponics can be daunting and seem complicated, it's not as big
of a task as it seems. Whether it's for a green solution to growing crops naturally or
a hobby that can double as decoration, everyone can find a reason to jump on the wagon.
As you have read above, with minimal equipment and time, you can create your own little
Eco-system that provides you with food, education and a wonderful conversation starter.
AUTHOR: Luis Rivera has 20+ years of experience in global market expansion, business development, mergers and acquisitions, business re-engineering, finance and investor relations of software companies. He is passionate about technology, spectral science, indoor farming, food production, automation, and more.
Since 2015 he is the president of Advanced LED Lights, a leading LED grow lights manufacturer based in Hiwasse, Arkansas. When not at work, Luis enjoys swimming, yoga, as well as growing grapes and flowers in Sonoma, California.
Six Spectral Channels: Osram Unveils Grow Light System For Horticulture Research
Phytofy RL is already being used by NASA and Michigan State University. Osram is using it to carry out research of growth, anthocyanins and taste, conducted in a climate chamber at the TU Munich.
Osram has developed a research luminaire to meet the growing demands of researchers at universities, private institutes and plant production in greenhouses and vertical farms. Researchers and modern agriculturists can use the LED-based plant luminaire system Phytofy RL in the lab or in climatic chambers in order to develop new plant-specific light and growth recipes. These recipes can lead to desired outcomes in plant quality, yield and flavor.
Each of the six spectral channels can be addressed individually with Phytofy RL and the intensity planned and managed precisely in real time.
Selective intervention
"Various light wavelengths and intensities allow selective intervention in the metabolic processes of agricultural crops and ornamental crops", Claudia Zehnpfennig, Global Product Manager with Osram explains. "Yield, coloration and taste as well as other features can be influenced in this way. The latest research shows that not only is this process impacted by photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) – in the range of 400 to 700 nanometers (nm) – but that shorter and longer wavelengths also influence plant development."
With Phytofy RL, six spectral channels – from a natural far-red end-of-day light to UV light – can be addressed individually and the photosynthetic photo flux density (PPFD) planned and controlled precisely in real time: 385 nm, 450 nm, 521 nm, 660 nm, 730 nm as well as a warm white channel with 2,700 Kelvin. At the same time, the large number of LEDs in the fixture allows a higher photosynthetic photon flux (PPF).
Claudia Zehnpfennig & her colleague Kelcey Trecartin last year on the Cultivate
Light recipes
According to Claudia, the highly uniform light distribution is a special feature of the system. "The calibrated system furthermore supplies a precise irradiance map, calculated by the software with no quantum flux measurements required. Use of Phytofy RL allows for evaluation of the most varied light recipes, without having to change luminaires between individual tests. Diverse combinations of wavelengths also can be programmed, in different light profiles and across the entire photoperiod." In addition, users get five light recipes following registration, which have been specially developed by Osram.
Use of Phytofy RL allows the researchers to evaluate the most varied light recipes, without having to change luminaires between individual tests.
Climate chambers
The system software was developed by Osram together with plant biologists and can be used intuitively via the graphical user interface. Manufacturers of climate chambers benefit too, with integration possible in their systems. "The flat and robust design (667 x 299 x 44 mm, just under 9 kilos) is optimized for vertical farms, rack systems and growth chambers."
Phytofy RL is already being used by NASA and Michigan State University. Osram is using it to carry out research of growth, anthocyanins and taste, conducted in a climate chamber at the TU Munich.
For more information:
Claudia Zehnpfennig
horticulture@osram.com
Osram
Marcel-Breuer-Strasse 6
80807 Munich, Germany
Phone +49 89 6213-0
Fax +49 89 6213-2020
www.osram.com/phytofy
Publication date : 2/27/2019
Brick Street Farms is a Hidden Gem Producing Fresh Food
By Vanessa Ruffes, FOX 13 News
February 27, 2019
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (FOX 13) -
Tampa Bay is full of hidden gems, and even hidden farms.
Brick Street Farms is nestled off of 2nd Avenue South in downtown St. Petersburg, and is making the most of its modest space. It opened about two years ago. At the time, it only served its produce to local restaurants and hotels. Then, more than a year ago, the farm opened its doors to the public with retail and farm memberships.
"We specialize in all things leafy green," said owner Shannon O'Malley, who actually worked with computers before switching to farming. "So, we have about 10 to 12 varieties of lettuce. We do four to five varieties of baby kale, chard, herbs, edible flowers, microgreens, sprouts."
All the growing magic happens inside several containers, which totals roughly 1,200 square feet, but O'Malley says her farm is able to generate 430,000-square-feet worth of produce.
"We actually grow 8 to 10 acres of produce every five weeks," O'Malley says. "We might look small, but we're actually a commercial grower. We go through 50,000 plants every five weeks."
Brick Street grows its crops hydroponically, striving to do the most with the least waste, tailoring water and light conditions specifically to what each type of plant likes.
"We use an LED lighting system, which means there's no sunlight used. We control temperature, humidity, CO2 levels, nutrient levels," O'Malley says. "We make every bit of use of the vertical space, which is why we're able to cram so much into a small space."
All that effort has put Brick Street's team up to its eyeballs in leafy greens, but the farm is starting to branch out, recently digging into tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries.
It doesn't get fresher than this either. O'Malley said everything goes straight from the farm to their market on-site or to their buyers within hours.
Speaking of the market -- shoppers and farm members will find small batch products either grown on the property or locally made. In addition to produce, the market offers items like honey, vinegars, and kimchi. O'Malley says the offerings are constantly changing too.
"I definitely think this is the way of the future," O'Malley says. "People really want to know where their food is coming from. We do everything without chemicals, without pesticides, no dirt, no bugs, non-GMO, no animal products, no animal fertilizers so we eliminate all the contaminant risks with our produce."
If you're interested in a tour, you can schedule a group tour. For more information, check out Brick Street Farms' website.
Dr. Jonathan Rich Appointed As Lumileds Chief Executive Officer
SAN JOSE, Calif., February 28, 2019 – Lumileds today announced the appointment of Dr. Jonathan Rich as Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Rich most recently served as Chairman and CEO of Berry Global, Inc., a Fortune 500 specialty materials and consumer packaging company, from 2010 to 2018. Dr. Rich succeeds Mark Adams, who is stepping down as CEO and from the board of directors but will remain in an advisory role to the company.
“I am very pleased to be joining Lumileds and am looking forward to building on the company’s differentiated lighting technology foundation to increase the value we can deliver to customers across a broad set of industries,” said Dr. Rich. “The opportunity for lighting innovation to make a positive impact on safety and sustainability is tremendous.”
Before Dr. Rich held the position of Chairman and CEO of Berry Global, he was president and CEO at Momentive, a specialty chemical company headquartered in Albany, New York. Prior to that, he held positions with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, first as President of the Global Chemicals business and subsequently as President of Goodyear’s North American Tire Division.
Dr. Rich spent his formative years at General Electric, first as a research scientist at GE Global Research and then in a series of management positions with GE Plastics. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has been a visiting lecturer at Cornell University Johnson School of Business since 2017.
“Mark Adams has made significant contributions to Lumileds during his tenure, leading the transition to an independent company and cultivating a culture of innovation and customer focus,” said Rob Seminara, a senior partner at Apollo and chairman of the board of Lumileds. “On behalf of the Board of Directors of Lumileds, we would like to thank him for his service to the company and wish him the very best in his future endeavors. We are very excited Jon will be joining Lumileds to drive the next phase of innovation and growth and we look forward to working with him again.”
Added Adams: “It has been a great experience leading Lumileds’ transition to an independent company that is focused on delivering lighting solutions that truly make a positive impact in the world. I would like to thank the employees of Lumileds and the Apollo team for their support and wish the company much success in the future.”
About Lumileds:
For automotive, mobile, IoT and illumination companies that require innovative lighting solutions, Lumileds is a global leader, employing more than 9,000 team members operating in over 30 countries.
Lumileds partners with its customers to push the boundaries of light.
To learn more about our portfolio of lighting solutions, visit lumileds.com. About Apollo
Global Management:
Apollo is a leading global alternative investment manager with offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, Bethesda, London, Frankfurt, Madrid, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Apollo has assets under management of approximately $280 billion as of December 31, 2018 in private equity, credit and real assets funds invested across a core group of nine
industries where Apollo has considerable knowledge and resources. For more information about Apollo, please visit www.apollo.com.
Weed Is Growing Into a Big Market for This Dutch Lighting Firm
Weed Is Growing Into a Big Market for This Dutch Lighting Firm
By Ellen Proper
February 19, 2019
Signify CEO lifts veil on horticultural unit’s pot business
Demand for greenhouses signals boom is feeding supply chain
A boom in the cannabis industry that began a few years ago is now fueling sales of equipment like so-called grow lights. Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg
The world’s biggest lighting company has been selling equipment to the horticultural industry for decades, building up its business outfitting greenhouses to grow plants like tomatoes, lettuce and roses. Lately, demand for a new crop has exploded onto the scene: Pot.
A cannabis boom that began a few years ago in the lead up to legalization in Canada, Uruguay and some U.S. states is now fueling sales of equipment like so-called grow lights. The changes in legislation and surge in consumption have led farmers to seek out more controlled and energy-efficient cultivation in hothouses.
“Where it’s legal, we participate,” said Eric Rondolat, chief executive officer of Signify NV, a spinoff of Amsterdam-based Royal Philips NV. “Worldwide we see an evolution in the thinking of cannabis production.”
Rondolat’s willingness to talk about marijuana and Signify is also a sign of change. The manufacturer gets the bulk of its 6.4 billion euros ($7.2 billion) in annual revenue from more mundane products like home lighting fixtures and street lamps. Until a few years ago, selling specialized gear to grow medicinal pot wasn’t something the company sought to publicize.
“We have seen big growth in cannabis being legalized lately and we see that also through our activity,” Rondolat said in an interview.
Greenhouse Boom
Signify’s brisker business is backed up by forecasts. The horticulture lighting market is set to expand to $6.2 billion by 2023 from $2.1 billion in 2017, partly driven by the legalization of cannabis for medicinal purposes, according to Markets and Markets, a consulting firm.
“We are just at the beginning of the greenhouse boom in Europe, and still at a fairly early stage in North America,” Alex Brooks, analyst at Canaccord Genuity, said by email.
Benefits to companies like Signify are a sign the cannabis rush is feeding into the manufacturing supply chain, with big firms in the drinks and tobacco markets also raising investment. The Dutch firm is not the only light maker wading in.
German rival Osram Licht AG has stakes in several horticultural specialists. In May, the company bought Austin-based startup Fluence, which like Signify sells more energy-efficient LED lighting for greenhouses. One tout on its website is for The Fireweed Factory in Juneau, Alaska, that gets about 1 million visitors a year and caters to local and tourist demand. Osram generally sells to “growers of pharmaceutically usable plants such as cannabis,” a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.
Projections for overall growth in the pot industry are eye-catching. Industry consultant Prohibition Partners said more than 50 countries have legalized medicinal cannabis, with some 10 more expected to join the list this year. The U.K. recently received its first bulk batch from the Netherlands after it was legalized for prescription last year.
The global legal market will reach $232 billion in 2027 from $9.9 billion in 2017, according to Bryan, Garnier analyst Nikolaas Faes. Growing companies using new greenhouses outfitted with lighting, humidity and temperature controls have an advantage over those relying on retrofitted ones previously used for other crops, he wrote in a report this month.
Signify has a leg up on competitors, Rondolat said, because the company has developed more than 150 types of lighting adapted to individual crops, including tomatoes, cucumbers, tulips and cannabis. Each requires its own light intensity and duration to improve yields, hasten flowering and quicken root growth.
Bright Spot
Rondolat has been at the helm of Signify since before shares were listed in 2016. The company has yet to post revenue growth as it navigates the consumer switch from conventional lighting to light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. With Brexit, rising U.S. inventories, trade tariffs and a slowdown in China also biting, growth in its horticultural business is a bright spot.
Read Giant Russian Greenhouse Shows LEDs Swaying Light Bulb Die-Hards
“This is a substantial market size already, and with a very interesting perspective going forward,” said Rondolat. For investors, it’s hard to figure out how much of a difference this could make. The company doesn’t break out earnings from greenhouse lighting or from selling specialized equipment for cannabis production. The CEO declined to provide details.
Read More
The U.K. Just Got Its First Bulk Medical Cannabis Shipment (1)
Canopy Expected to Capture Biggest Chunk of Canadian Pot Market
Cannabis Lobbying Heats Up As Congress Looks At Pot Banking
Brooklyn Medical Pot Salon Opens to New York Legalization Push
Signify Expands GrowWise Control System
Signify expands GrowWise Control System to make it even easier for growers to create customized light recipes
· Expanded GrowWise Control System gives full flexibility and control over lighting
· Different lighting per growth phase to improve results for young and mature plants
· Easily switch to new crops without installing new lights
· Can be seamlessly connected to existing climate computer
Eindhoven, The Netherlands – Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, expanded its GrowWise Control System to fit seamlessly with conventional climate control and greenhouse management systems and make it even easier to operate. The system, which was introduced last year, allows growers and researchers to easily create and run custom LED light recipes to meet the needs of specific crops to improve quality, productivity and efficiency. It works with ’dynamic’ modules in the Philips GreenPower LED range.
Growing demand for lighting flexibility
“Since we introduced the GrowWise Control System a year ago, growers have embraced this solution,” says Udo van Slooten, Business Leader Horticulture at Signify. “It meets the needs of a broad range of growers, from greenhouse growers and vertical farmers to researchers, who are looking for more flexible ways of applying their grow lights to improve crop results and operational efficiency.”
More control over every plant
With the GrowWise Control System, growers can give all the plants in their facility exactly what they need and when they need it, enhancing cultivation with a single LED system. A light recipe provides the settings for the light spectrum, intensity, illumination moment and uniformity. The GrowWise Control System allows growers to create their own time-based recipes. Using a recipe, a grower can steer specific plant characteristics, from compactness, color intensity and branch development to flowering and more to improve results. One light recipe might enhance the red coloration of lettuce, for example, while another might be used to stimulate stretching or compactness.
The GrowWise Control System can mix a variety of colors (deep red, blue, green and far red) as well as the light duration and intensity. The system is designed to work with current and future Philips GreenPower LED lighting modules.
Signify will showed its new products during Fruit Logistica in Berlin, February 6-8 hall 3 booth A-18 and HortiContact in Gorinchem, February 19-21 booth A-107.
--- END ---
About Signify
Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) is the world leader in lighting for professionals and consumers and lighting for the Internet of Things. Our Philips products, Interact connected lighting systems and data-enabled services, deliver business value and transform life in homes, buildings and public spaces. With 2018 sales of EUR 6.4 billion, we have approximately 29,000 employees and are present in over 70 countries. We unlock the extraordinary potential of light for brighter lives and a better world. We have been named Industry Leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for two years in a row. News from Signify is located at the Newsroom, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Information for investors can be found on the Investor Relations page.
What Type of Solar Kit Do I Need To Run My Grow Lights?
For most people, the main purpose of going solar is to offset the cost of electricity. However, solar power systems come in two general types, grid-tied and off-grid
Q: What Type of Solar Kit Do I Need To Run My Grow Lights?
Quick question on solar. I want to run eight, 1,000W adjustable double-ended bulbs along with a five-ton AC unit and a Quest 205 dehumidifier. Along with fans, lights, and AC on 240V and the rest 120V. On an average of 18 hours a day. Around 150 amps to be safe. Is that a sufficient amount of info to receive an idea of what type of solar kit I can buy?
A: For most people, the main purpose of going solar is to offset the cost of electricity. However, solar power systems come in two general types, grid-tied and off-grid. This is generally one of the first decisions to make when it comes to solar panel installation.
Grid-tied means that the solar panels are directly tied to the conventional power grid and may provide some or all of your power needs. When unused power is created by your solar panels it is automatically delivered to the grid, earning you credits on your power bill.
Off-grid systems are not connected to the conventional power grid and operate independent of your local power company, and requires that 100 percent of your power comes from your system. Also, unused power must be stored in a battery bank until it can be used at a later time. A truly off-grid system will greatly increase the cost per watt of your solar system and also cost more to maintain over time.
I will assume you are most interested in a grid-tied system. Because of the sensitive nature of the equipment, I would recommend having a licensed electrician pull four circuits from your supply of power. Subpanel No.1 will be for the eight lighting fixtures. Each double-ended fixture is capable of 1,150 watts, so we will estimate maximum power consumption at 9,200 watts. At 240V the total draw is approximately 38.3 amps (38.3A). For safety and load ratings I always add 20 percent which makes the correct choice for Subpanel No. 1 a 50A double pole 240V breaker.
Subpanel No. 2 will be for the five-ton commercial grade A/C which will use about 32A or less at 240V, so that makes the correct choice for Subpanel 2 a 40A double pole 240V breaker.
Subpanel No. 3 is for the commercial-grade 205-pint dehumidifier that will require a dedicated 120V 20-amp circuit with a NEMA 5-20 plug. Lastly, I would have your electrician pull a final 120V 15-amp circuit for all of your additional fans and accessories.
The total wattage of the major appliances is around 18,325 watts. Assuming all the major appliances are running at maximum for 18 hours a day, that is approximately 330-kilowatt hours (kWh) per day or 10,030 kWh per month. However, although the lights will operate for 18 hours a day continually, the A/C and the dehumidifier will not, so your actual consumption will be less.
Because of the complexity when it comes to selecting the right size solar system, I would recommend you to consult a local company to determine the number of solar panels you will need. Local factors such as geographic location, weather, positioning, and line of sight blockages in your horizon all play a factor into how many kilowatt hours you can produce per day. Also, local laws, permits, and regulations will apply, which makes consulting a local solar expert worth the time and money to ensure a smooth purchase and installation.
How GLASE is Blazing A New Frontier in Lighting
By Erico Mattos | January 25, 2019
Primary organizers of the GLASE consortium are Tessa Pocock of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (left) and Neil Mattson (center) and Erico Mattos of Cornell University.
Lighting control is the last frontier in controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Well-designed horticulture lighting systems can reduce energy use in greenhouses and indoor farms, thereby increasing production and profitability. Light-emitting diode (LED) technologies have the potential to improve energy efficiency and therefore energy costs of greenhouses, but in many ways the hardware capabilities are further ahead than our understanding of how to best operate these systems.
Working in the rapidly growing CEA industry, the Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering (GLASE) consortium is a public-private partnership to develop, transfer, and implement advanced energy-efficient LED lighting systems with improved environmental controls for more efficient and sustainable greenhouse production. Formed by Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and Rutgers University, GLASE is supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The consortium’s mission is to advance CEA through a holistic approach, bringing together different areas of expertise from academia and the marketplace, and creating a hub for technology and information exchange among industry stakeholders and key players.
First-Year Focus: Research and Participation
The combination of engineering practices with plant science is being recognized as valuable, if not critical, to the field of horticultural lighting. During its first operational year in 2018, GLASE developed a series of multidisciplinary activities aimed to optimize CEA systems. Recent technologies developed by consortium researchers include:
• The use of a remote chlorophyll fluorometer to monitor plants relative growth rates
• A proposed standardized horticultural lighting label to facilitate the comparison of lamps across manufacturers
• Improvements to the Lighting and Shade System Implementation (LASSI)
• A control system to optimize lighting control and reduce greenhouse energy consumption
• Light-spectrum optimization for plant growth
The participation of industry stakeholders is paramount in guiding GLASE research and bringing the innovations to market. GLASE is working with industrial partners to commercialize and accelerate the adoption of new energy-efficient technologies nationwide. Since April 2018, 21 industrial members have joined the consortium. The participants are a combination of commercial greenhouses, indoor farms, lighting manufacturers, and service providers. With $5 million secured for research and outreach for the next five years, GLASE will continue to work with industry partners to further develop and implement new energy-efficient technologies to achieve energy-related improvements in greenhouse system operations by optimizing energy efficiency, crop yield, and quality.
What’s Next for GLASE
Future GLASE activities include:
• The development of automated lighting and shade control systems integrated with control of wavelengths for optimal crop growth
• The use of CO2 enhancement in greenhouses
• Investigation of LED use to alter plant physiology and morphology to increase yield or the production of chemical compounds that increase crop value
• The design of novel prototype luminaires for greenhouses
• The development of software that includes whole greenhouse systems management to synergistically control lighting, ventilation , and humidity.
GLASE also works with commercial pilot facilities to test technology adoption in real-world production settings. To ensure the development and implementation of effective technologies, GLASE is supported by a scientific advisory board (SAB) and an industrial advisory board (IAB). The SAB identifies new areas of research and vets GLASE-developed technologies, whereas the IAB offers the consortium guidance on the optimal path to market and provides a source of technical and market intelligence.
Working toward industry standardization, GLASE has established a partnership with Intertek to offer its industrial partners a complementary lighting test to characterize horticultural lighting fixtures following the proposed lighting label published by A.J. Both, et al. This is an effort to provide growers with a reliable comparative platform to select among the available lighting technologies that best fit their unique needs.
Through the development of strategic partnerships and increased industry participation, GLASE is expanding its activities in 2019. In addition to having the opportunity to work with other GLASE partners, members of the consortium receive the benefits of a seat on the GLASE Industrial Advisory Board, early notice of invention disclosures (IP), quarterly technical reports and industry meetings, access to Cornell University and RPI research facilities, networking, marketing, and educational and training programs.
How You Can Participate
As part of the consortium outreach activities, GLASE is developing a national greenhouse energy benchmark database. The aggregated data will be used to support the development of new energy incentive programs, guide national funding opportunities, and allow GLASE researchers and other academic institutions to identify new areas of improvement in Controlled Environment Agriculture systems. Participating greenhouse and indoor growers will have the opportunity to benchmark their production systems against a national database to identify areas of improvement to increase operations’ profitability.
To learn more about GLASE and how to join the consortium, go to Glase.org.
Erico Mattos (em796@cornell.edu) is the Executive Director of GLASE. See all author stories here.
LED Lighting for Indoor Agriculture
Now, plants can be commercially grown without any sun light. LED lighting is replacing the sun due to advanced technological innovations.
Len Calderone for | AgritechTomorrow
01/10/19, 08:14 AM
Since the beginning of time, plants have relied on the sun to feed and grow through the method known as photosynthesis—a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy. Now, plants can be commercially grown without any sun light. LED lighting is replacing the sun due to advanced technological innovations.
Light emitting diodes (LED) work by passing a current between semiconductors. Compared with other forms of electrical illumination, LEDs use less energy, give off little heat and can be controlled to optimize plant growth compared to other forms of electrical illumination, such as fluorescent lamps, which contain mercury, which is needed to make the inert gasses conductive at all temperatures and to make the lamp work properly and efficiently. Mercury is a heavy metal, which is hazardous to the environment.
Then, we have incandescent lamps that are considered the least energy efficient type of electric lighting commonly found in residential buildings. Because of their inefficiency and brief life spans, they are more expensive to operate than LED and fluorescent lights.
LEDs are tiny light bulbs that fit into an electrical circuit. Unlike incandescent bulbs, they don't have a filament that will burn out, and they don't get very hot. They are illuminated uniquely by the movement of electrons in a semiconductor material. The lifespan of an LED exceeds the short lifespan of an incandescent bulb by thousands of hours.
In LEDs, the conductor material is usually aluminum-gallium-arsenide. In pure aluminum-gallium-arsenide, all of the atoms adhere entirely to their neighbors, leaving no free electrons to conduct electric current. Additional atoms change the balance by adding free electrons or creating holes where electrons can go. Either of these variations make the material more conductive.
In agricultural applications, LED lights are used to change how plants grow, alter when they flower, transform how they taste and even modify their levels of vitamins and antioxidants. LED lights can extend a plant’s shelf life as well.
Growers can use LED light modifications to grow two types of basil from the same plant. For example, they can grow sweeter basil for the grocery store and more spicy versions for chefs.
These plants are grown indoors, utilizing a fraction of the land, water and fertilizers of greens raised outdoors with conventional farming. Since the plants are gown indoors, they can be grown close to urban centers. Growers don’t need varieties bred for disease resistance, or plants genetically modified to handle the stresses of growing outside. The harvest isn’t transported across the country in refrigerated trucks, and they are not susceptible to the effects of climate change, which is making growing much more difficult for a lot of farms around the country and around the world.
Indoor growing and LEDs allow fast, year-round crop cycles. This permits growers to produce 200,000 pounds of leafy greens, vine crops, herbs and microgreens annually in a 12,000-square-foot warehouse, which is the equivalent of 80 acres of farmland. Not dependent on the outside weather, plants can grow year-round, enabling a grower to produce 15 or more crops a year.
Conventional greenhouses have depended on on high-pressure sodium lamps (HPS) to complement sunlight, but HPS lights don’t work as well as LED because they consume much more power to produce the same light levels. They also generate too much heat to place near young greens. Greenhouses are moving to a combination of HPS and LED lighting for supplemental lighting, though growers see a time when they will use LEDs alone. Lately, LED lighting costs have been cut in half, and their effectiveness has more than doubled.
Scientists have acknowledged that photosynthesis is improved within the red band, but plants also need blue light waves to prevent stretching and enhance leaf color. A visible range beyond red, known as far red, encourages larger leaves, branching and flowering. With advances in LED technology, light recipes can be finely tweaked to each crop and even to each phase in a crop’s life.
Sunlight is inefficient when it comes to improving small-scale, urban agriculture. The heat produced by the sun can damage plants. The sunlight’s heat effect is further amplified when the plants are packed close together, which they are in urban farming.
In contrast to sunlight, LED lights are known for shifting nearly undetectable amounts of heat onto plants, and the light bulbs are cool to the touch. When using LED lighting, urban farms can closely pack plants for maximum efficiency. This would not be achievable in ordinary agricultural environments without conceding the health of the plants.
There is normally a higher upfront cost using LED lighting. The best way to acknowledge the cost-savings of LED lighting is to look at it in terms of a long-term investment. Over time, LED lighting has a much higher energy productivity over time as compared to other urban farming lighting technologies.
LED's use much less electricity than pressure sodium lights or fluorescent, as much as 40% - 50%. For indoor growing, proper ventilation is required. Ventilation for indoor growing helps prevent excess moisture, the propagation of pests and the weakening of plant stems. LEDs produce much less heat than other types of grow lights, resulting in the need for less ventilation.
LED's grow lights have an extreme life length. They typically have 50,000 hours of usable life, which is approximately 6 years of continuous use. So, if you are utilizing the lights on a 50% on 50% off schedule, the life of LED grow lights is over 11 years.
Since LED's have much lower heat output, they can be located nearer to the plants. This allows the grower to stack more plants in the same vertical space. Therefore, the benefit of using LEDs is to double or triple the production output without changing the area of the growing space. Of course, this depends on the height of the growing space.
As used in commercial indoor growing, LED lighting technologies have been around less than ten years. LED lights are less understood than other types of grow lights, which have been studied for several decades. So, what does this mean? The support for and the knowledge of LED grow lights is far more limited than other types of grow lights. Most importantly, because of the knowledge gap, there are great opportunities.
Signify Makes It Easier To Switch From HPS to LED Toplighting Using Existing infrastructure
January 16, 2019
Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact provides easy 1-to-1 switch while re-using your existing HPS plug and infrastructure
Replace 1000W HPS lighting and get the same amount of light with 40% less electricity use
Replace 600W HPS lighting and get 80% more light for the same amount of electricity
Eindhoven, Netherlands – Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, today unveiled its new concept for the Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact. This compact, passively cooled LED toplighting provides a 1-to-1 replacement for HPS lighting that fits seamlessly in existing HPS connections and trellis constructions. The goal is to make it easier for growers to make the switch to LED lighting as a way to improve their crop results or reduce energy costs.
Compared to a 1000-W HPS light, the Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact will produce the same amount of light, while using 40% less electricity and producing very little radiant heat. This gives growers more independent control over heat and light in their greenhouse climate. Compared to a 600-W HPS light, the new energy efficient compact produces 80% more light, using the same amount of electricity.
Robust solution
“Many growers are looking for an easy way to step into LED lighting and generate the additional benefits of LEDs, including higher yield, better quality crop and more predictability. They often would like to see this happen in their existing greenhouse and structure mounted on the trellis. I’m delighted that we are working on a really robust solution with minimal light interception and without the need for active cooling, so they can take advantage of all the benefits that LED toplighting offers for a whole range of light-loving crops,” says Udo van Slooten, business leader horticulture at Signify. “Together with the plant specialists, account manager and application engineer, the optimized lighting solution for your greenhouse situation shall be determined.”
Easy fit for low installation costs
The new compact module is being developed to fit seamlessly in existing HPS connections and trellis constructions, so growers can easily switch from HPS lighting to LED toplighting or create a hybrid LED and HPS lighting system. This new concept has the potential to give growers the flexibility to increase light intensity for a specific crop or expand the illumination area, using the same or much less electricity.
The Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact is expected to be commercially available in Fall 2019 as an extension to the existing Philips GreenPower LED toplighting program.
Signify became the new company name of Philips Lighting as of May 16, 2018.