You Should Consider These 6 Key Crop Lighting Design Issues | Where to order Skittles Moonrock online

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Lighting is one of most important factors that contribute to plant growth. It’s important to be able compare lighting designs “apples to apples” to choose the right lighting design for your cultivation facilities. Lighting manufacturers use different techniques of analysis, which can be a challenge. By understanding the key lighting considerations you can make an informed decision about the best lighting plan to meet your crop’s lighting needs.

To that end CBT We spoke with two experts about the impact of lighting choices. Jason Matlock, Ph.D. is a Horticulture Services Specialist on the Fluence Crop Science Team, which combines horticultural knowledge with hands-on experience in production to provide plant-centric support. Chris Bezuyen is the Director of Technical Services at Fluence. He leads a team of Application Engineers that design and consult on facility designs, including lighting plans.

Here’s what they recommend for lighting design:

1. Analysis area (or focus zone) of light uniformity
Light uniformity is more important than light intensity for a consistent crop yield. As Bezuyen points, uniformity and consistency are essential for commercial success.

Bezuyen says that it’s important to consider different aspects of the lighting design and not just one area. When the focus of the design is the center, uniformity can look exceptional. As the analysis area grows, so does the variability. “Light intensity and uniformity can be significantly reduced around the edges of cultivation space.”

Fluence lighting plans, for example, consider the entire room – not just the center – to make the space as consistent as it can be. Bezuyen says that when you get a lighting design, you should make sure that it doesn’t mask any uniformity problems.

Dr. Matlock says that there isn’t always one “right” area of focus. “You should openly discuss your goals with your lighting provider and understand how the design focus area aligns to your expectations. Apply the same lens to each lighting provider you are evaluating so that you can compare them consistently.

2. Calculation of surface height
Surface height is also taken into account in the calculations. This is important for lighting uniformity.

Bezuyen explains that the uniformity of growth may be more important at different phases of the plant’s growth cycle. Fluence encourages growers at different stages of plant growth to identify critical heights.

Compare the distance between the light source and the canopy when comparing two lighting schemes. If not, uniformity and intensity of light are affected, which can lead to inaccurate results and assumptions.

Dr. Matlock will ask, “Are you interested in the location of the light and how it behaves in the first week? Are you more interested in the finished canopy height? Are both relevant and you make decisions based on the mix? If someone parks their calculation surface six inches from a lighting fixture, and another person does an analysis three feet away, the results will be radically different. [light] levels.”

3. Modeling accuracy of the cultivable space
Lighting plans must accurately reflect your cultivation space to make an apples-to-apples comparative comparison. Bezuyen claims that materials for cultivation rooms have improved dramatically, but walls and other surfaces continue to absorb photons within the PAR range (Photosynthetic Active Radiation).

Bezuyen explains that you should ensure that the wall, floor, and bench materials are accurately represented in your light plan, as this will affect your lighting system’s performance. When you analyze designs, be sure to pay attention to the reflectivity values. It’s a fair and reasonable question, but you should ensure that both lighting designs use the same coefficients.

Dr. Matlock points to the fact that some lighting designs are based on the assumption that every photon from a fixture reaches the plant. “It doesn’t work like that.” He says that ceilings, floors, benches and dirt are all factors that can create inefficiencies. If you look at a bid and it doesn’t include these factors, it may not reflect the real-world conditions. It can make a design seem better than it really is.

4. PPFD’s impact on spectrum and efficacy
Understanding the spectrum analysis when comparing lighting designs is essential. Bezuyen explains LEDs that emit red photons are more efficient per watt, meaning that those pink, red, or purple lights will produce higher photosynthetic flux density (PPFD), at the leaf canopy, compared to a lighter light.

When comparing two lighting schemes, it is important to consider the spectrum or spectral mixture being analyzed. Bezuyen explains that one lighting plan may appear brighter than another, but this is because it delivers more red content to canopy. This can be problematic for some cannabis cultivars due to photobleaching.

Dr. Matlock explains that Fluence’s R4 (or 40% red), what it calls its broad spectrum or wide white spectrum, is the most commonly deployed spectrum. He says that, “by and large, at design levels for most cannabis businesses, going beyond the broad white R4 creates the risk of photobleaching.” “When you compete in the fresh flowers market, it’s the equivalent of selling scabby apple.”

Photobleaching has a similar impact on market value as apple scab. This aspect of lighting design should align with your goals and intentions for the product.

5. Accuracy of Luminaire Modeling and Field Validation
The differences in lighting plans can be traced back to the samples that manufacturers sent to certified laboratories for initial testing. Lighting plans can overpromise when samples show the best possible performance. It’s crucial to validate lighting designs in the field.

Bezuyen explains that you should take multiple measurements to validate your lighting plan. He also warns to be careful when measuring. The use of a white shirt, a sensor that is tilted, the wrong height, or incorrect distances can all affect your measurements.

“It is also important to know, when you are doing a field-validation, whether you are doing it in a room that’s empty, where all surfaces are clean and highly reflective or if you are doing it under a full leaf canopy. This can have a significant impact. You must understand the impact both have on the lighting plan”, Bezuyen says.

Bezuyen, for example, says he would take four measurements on a 5-foot-by-5-foot focus area. For a 20-foot by 20-foot focus area, he would take 10 measurements. These measurements should be taken to zero in on the intended surface for calculation or the critical crop heights that the grower has identified. They can then be compared with the lighting plan.

6. Limitations of graphical representations
Lighting decisions are often influenced by graphic representations of light such as color maps and isolines. As with topographical maps in geography, color-mapping used in lighting design does not reflect all gradients or “valleys”. Growers should consider the maximum and minimum values that are mapped to a color gradient when color mapping. Low maximums and high minimums can mask issues with uniformity. It is important to understand the number of lines and the flux difference between the lines when it comes to isoline maps. The map will not capture the full range of design variations if there are too few lines or big differences. Bezuyen, Dr. Matlock and others point out that it’s important to understand these limitations and to look back on the design’s focal area to understand what your growing space is likely to experience.

“If growers only make decisions based on a wide view of their growing area and color mapping, isolines, and the topographical light map, they could miss some of the subtleties that will affect the consistency of their plant morphology or crop. Bezuyen encourages growers to focus on a specific area and understand its impact.

The pair also stresses that lighting manufacturers should be willing to come after installation and validate results.

Bezuyen continues, “Fluence was used to verify the measurements on the first day of commissioning the space, and again the day before harvest when the room was full of plants.