We’ve all seen those fantastic claims about huge-efficacy LED luminaires for horticulture. Surely, they must be true? There are rules and regulations about that sort of thing. Aren’t there? Well, yes and no.
In recent years the Horticulture world has been changing fast with respect to artificial assimilation light. There is a rapid change from today’s commonly used HID/HPS light sources to highly efficacy LED light sources. This change is normal and good for the market as it results in not only increased yields for growers and improving taste and nutrients, but also in a reduction of the energy consumption in growing crops. As a result, “efficacy” is one of the most important parameters in horticulture lighting.
With the interesting opportunities for LED lighting in the horticultural business, more and more companies try to enter the market as LED light provider. To attract customers, they promise the most fantastic efficacy levels. The values mentioned in the market have a direct impact on the operational costs, so they are very important for all installations. Question is: are they true?
The problem is that many new horticultural lighting providers may have good knowledge about general lighting but do not fully understand the complex issues involved in producing reliable and high-performance horticultural lighting. Many of these new players do not have the technical skills to test and measure horticultural lighting performance levels adequately. And some may even be using the wrong techniques, resulting in highly dubious specifications, such as claims about huge-efficacy.
Instead of testing every LED light source that comes into the market, we would like to explain to you more about efficacy and how it is measured, so you can ask the right questions and assess the validity of the claims yourself.
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