PRESS RELEASE — Today, technology-driven vertical farming company Kalera announced the publication of a new study, “Effect of End-of-Production High-Energy Radiation on Nutritional Quality of Indoor-Grown Red-Leaf Lettuce,” conducted in partnership with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. The Kalera-sponsored study found that by using high-energy LED lighting prior to harvest, red-leaf lettuce significantly increases the production of antioxidants and especially of anthocyanins, compounds in plants that may offer health-promoting benefits by protecting cells from free radicals — exciting news for health-conscious consumers. By only using high-energy LED lighting for the last few days before harvest, both yield and quality could be maximized indoors, indicating promising and cost-effective future practices for the vertical farming industry. The entire study can be read here.

While numerous studies have evaluated the effect of high-energy light as a means to increase nutritional quality of lettuce grown in vertical farms, most research has focused on providing constant light quality or quantity throughout the production cycle, which typically reduces yield or increases production costs. In this new University of Florida study, Dr. Celina Gómez, Assistant Professor of Controlled Environment Horticulture at the University of Florida, who led the study, evaluated the use of end-of-production (EOP) high energy light as a cost-effective, pre-harvest practice that can allow growers to manipulate product quality and increase market value of lettuce without negatively affecting yield.

“Dr. Toma approached me to discuss the possibility of leading the study, which resulted in exciting findings for the vertical farming industry and consumers of healthy produce alike. The objective of the study was to compare growth and accumulation of secondary metabolites such as antioxidants from two popular red-leaf lettuce cultivars grown indoors and exposed to different strategies of EOP high-energy lighting. In general, EOP with blue or high-intensity lighting increased anthocyanin content and antioxidant capacity,” noted Dr Gómez. “Considering potential implications on production costs, EOP with additional blue light is an effective strategy to increase the quality of indoor-grown red-leaf lettuce plants.”

“Given the positive effects of pre-harvest light treatments on nutritional value and marketability of red-leaf lettuce cultivars, vertical farms like Kalera offer tremendous opportunities to deliver fresh, high-quality produce to local markets. This is just one example of what vertical farming can do,” noted Dr. Cristian Toma. “By investing in new developments in science and technology, Kalera is positioning itself as a leader in the vertical farming space and as an expert in the ag-tech revolution. This new research reflects the importance of constantly educating our company, our customers, and our industry on best practices, even as we continue to expand and grow into new markets.”

The new study is being released shortly after Kalera announced its expansion into Atlanta, GA, with its newest facility. Kalera opened its second Orlando, Florida indoor vertical farm in March. While Kalera’s Orlando farm is currently the highest production volume vertical farm in the Southeast, the new Atlanta facility will be more than double the size while generating over 70 jobs for the local community. As was the case in Orlando, Kalera is able to quickly open its newest growing facility in Atlanta with its proprietary technology as a result of a streamlined design and construction process, further illustrating its ability to rapidly scale and expand its vertical farms. The Atlanta facility is the third indoor vertical farm in Kalera’s portfolio and will soon be joined by more in the United States and abroad.

About Kalera
Kalera is a technology driven vertical farming company with unique growing methods combining optimized nutrients and light recipes, precise environmental controls, and clean room standards to produce safe, highly nutritious, pesticide-free, non-GMO vegetables with consistent high quality and longer shelf life year-round. The company’s high-yield, automated, data-driven hydroponic production facilities have been designed for rapid rollout with industry-leading payback times to grow vegetables faster, cleaner, at a lower cost, and with less environmental impact.

About UF/IFAS
The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.

ifas.ufl.edu | @UF_IFAS

Electric lighting is essential to providing supplemental light in many greenhouses and is the only source of light for indoor agricultural environments. These lighting systems are extremely expensive to purchase and install, so it is important for growers to select a lighting system that will provide the most effective lighting for their application at the lowest overall operating cost.

The horticulture luminaire calculator developed by the LRC, is based on a metric called photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD). PPFD is analogous to photopic illuminance on a work surface in an architectural application. Just as it is only valid to compare the power densities of alternate lighting systems at equal illuminance levels on the work plane, the power densities of alternate horticultural luminaires should only be compared when they provide the same PPFD on the plant canopy.

Growers can easily be misled by considering luminaire efficacy alone, when selecting lighting products for horticultural applications. Luminaire efficacy does not take into account important factors such as the luminaire intensity distribution, optimal luminaire layout, and the number of luminaires that will be required to reach a criterion PPFD. All of these factors are significant when evaluating the overall cost-effectiveness of various horticulture luminaire options.

The horticulture luminaire calculator allows a grower to determine the best arrangement and mounting height of each luminaire they are considering. Using the calculator, growers can determine the number of each type of luminaire that will be needed to light their space to their desired light level, and select the product that will provide the optimum lighting, at the lowest cost. It would take several days to make these calculations using traditional methods. The horticulture luminaire calculator does it in a manner of minutes.

“Energy use and lifecycle costs vary widely among LED lighting systems used in controlled environment horticulture,” said LRC Professor Dr. Mark Rea. “It has been the standard approach for many years in the field of architectural lighting, and is becoming readily apparent in horticultural lighting, that we must conduct complete system energy and lifecycle cost analyses to generate an accurate picture of which technology would work best for each particular application. The horticulture luminaire calculator provides an easy way for growers to make this determination.”

This project was funded by Natural Resources Canada and other members of the Lighting Energy Alliance, including Efficiency Vermont, Energize Connecticut, National Grid, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, and ComEd.

Access the calculator at https://hortcalc.lrc.rpi.edu

About the Lighting Research Center

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is the world’s leading center for lighting research and education. Established in 1988 by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the LRC conducts research in light and human health, transportation lighting and safety, solid-state lighting, energy efficiency, and plant health. LRC lighting scientists with multidisciplinary expertise in research, technology, design, and human factors, collaborate with a global network of leading manufacturers and government agencies, developing innovative lighting solutions for projects that range from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to U.S. Navy submarines to hospital neonatal intensive-care units. In 1990, the LRC became the first university research center to offer graduate degrees in lighting and today, offers a M.S. in lighting and a Ph.D. to educate future leaders in lighting. Learn more at www.lrc.rpi.edu.

About Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Founded in 1824, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is America’s first technological research university. Rensselaer encompasses five schools, 32 research centers, more than 145 academic programs, and a dynamic community made up of more than 7,900 students and more than 100,000 living alumni. Rensselaer faculty and alumni include more than 145 National Academy members, six members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, six National Medal of Technology winners, five National Medal of Science winners, and a Nobel Prize winner in Physics. With nearly 200 years of experience advancing scientific and technological knowledge, Rensselaer remains focused on addressing global challenges with a spirit of ingenuity and collaboration.

By Chris Higgins

LED grow lights have been a very hot topic for more than a decade now and as with any (relatively) new technology, the first decade of LED grow lights has seen massive changes and improvements.  From the amount of companies selling LED grow lights to the technology powering what they are selling, we have all heard or read why each company feels their technology is the best. In recent months, that conversation has included topics ranging from fixture design to cooling to efficiency (umol/j) to intensity (umol/m2/s) to color spectrum (nm) (all of which are directly related when it comes to fixture performance).  I dare say we have probably heard and seen everything that we are going to see.

So why am I writing this article?

I am writing this article because the majority of commercial growers are still invested in older technology.  I know many of these growers are interested in innovation, but definitely don’t want to invest until they feel the technology is proven.

I also know that this article is bound to have many people and companies disagreeing with me.

That is why I am going to approach this from the perspective of what we need to happen, versus what the technology might be capable of doing.

First, I am a believer in red:blue led grow light concept.  And here are the reasons why:

1.  THE GREENHOUSE

I am still a believer in the commercial greenhouse and I am still a believer in the sun.  Most commercial greenhouse growers who are investing in light are only investing in supplemental light.  This means that for much of the year they are not using their grow lights or they are only using them for a short period of the day.  They are instead relying on the sun to provide most of the energy for the plants. This also means that the plants are getting full-spectrum light from the sun (or at least what spectrum is able to pass through the glazing) and even when the grower is using their grow lights the sun is normally contributing a significant amount to the percentage of DLI (Daily Light Integral) the plants receive each month.  Based on the knowledge we (as an industry) have today plus the equipment we have commercial access to, a well designed greenhouse with supplemental electric light is a proven and economic tool for year round plant production in a wide variety of climates and geographies.

This is not to say that I don’t believe in vertical farming.  It’s just to say that the greenhouse has been around long enough to be proven to work in a wide variety of conditions.  In a follow up article I will discuss how important vertical farming is to the future of different parts of the agricultural process.   

2. EFFICIENCY and INTENSITY

My research continues to prove that the most efficient LED grow lights are red and blue.  It also shows that those light fixtures with highest output (umols/s) are red/blue led grow lights.  Depending on the ratio of red:blue this could mean as much as a 45% savings in electricity for greenhouse lighting depending on what fixtures and type of technology one is comparing.  This could also mean about 10% more light per fixture, which means less overall fixtures in the farm. For those growing food crops or ornamental crops, these types of savings can have a big impact depending on where the farm is located and how much the farm is paying for electricity.  Efficiency should also be front and center for those growers interested in winning the sustainability discussion. There are plenty of people opposed to controlled environment agriculture. Their main opposition is the energy footprint. And that is a fair argument. That’s why it’s important that we learn to maximize production based on using the most efficient tools.

3. OPERATING COST

If we want to be profitable farmers, now and well into the future, we need to constantly focus on operating cost.  This means counting pennies and making the best investment in technology we can based on what we know and what we have access to.  Energy efficient equipment often costs more, but if you maximize the operational savings and take advantage of utility rebates, the right equipment/investments will start paying you back in a short period of time.  And since red/blue leds are proving to be the most efficient option, it only seems to make sense that we figure out how to adapt our production strategies in order to use this technology.

Again, it’s very important to remember that the only use of supplemental lighting is to increase plant performance. Plants absorb different light colors (light spectrum) at different levels. Science supports the fact that the colors most absorbed by plants in order to promote photosynthesis are red and blue. Meaning the rest of light colors will require a higher light intensity in order to trigger the same photosynthesis levels reached by red and blue LEDs. Photosynthesis is the main process in plants leading growth and development. By using red and blue light you can be sure the money you invest in your light is better used.

So, why would one not invest in red/blue leds?  Is it because the greenhouse crop does not grow well under the lights?  Not based on my experience. Many of my customers, staff and friends have been growing under red/blue leds for years now.  The crops look great and the yields are comparable when light intensities are equal. The best argument I have heard has nothing to do with the crop.  It’s that “employees” don’t like it and might be uncomfortable. That is a fair argument. But, in my opinion that is an argument with a very easy work around. Growers should look at strategically placed work lights that are capable of producing bright white light at a lesser cost.  These lights will be less efficient, but not need to run as long as the grow lights (because they only need to run when workers are present) and because of that these less effective fixtures will not have a negative impact on the potential efficiency and op ex savings.

In greenhouse horticulture there is a golden rule:
1 percent more light ensures 1 percent more yield.

Important definitions:
Supplemental light:  A strategy used in commercial greenhouse production to increase crop production during time periods with low levels of solar radiation by adding photons from electronic light fixtures.
Daily light integral: Describes the number of photosynthetically active photons that are delivered to a specific area over a 24-hour period. This variable is particularly useful to describe the light environment of plants. 
Lighting efficiency:  The appropriate metric for plant lighting is photosynthetic photon efficacy (PPE). This is the PAR photon output (unit of micromoles per second, or μmol·s–¹) divided by the input power (watts, or W) to produce that light. Thus, the unit becomes μmol·s–¹·W–¹, and because one watt (W) equals one joule per second (J·s–¹), the ratio can be simplified to μmol·J–¹ (μmol per second/joule per second).

Important questions for further discussion, please email me or message me for further discussion:

1. Why does the location of the farm matter?  
2. Why does the cost of electricity matter?
3. Do renewables make this argument stronger?  
4. And why is renewable energy so important for sustainable agriculture moving forward.

Additionally, for more information on LED grow lights or to get  a return on investment (ROI) calculation based on your current investment, please email or contact me directly. 

In this article, LumiGrow scientists experts break down what light spectrum is, how plants respond to light, and how light spectrum influences plant growth.

Click here to read the full Definitive Guide to to Grow Light Spectrum

What is Light Spectrum?

Light spectrum is the range of wavelengths produced by a light source. When discussing light spectrum, the term ‘light’ refers to the visible wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum that humans can see from 380–740 nanometers (nm). Ultraviolet (100–400 nm), far-red (700–850 nm), and infra-red (700–106 nm) wavelengths are referred to as radiation.

As growers, we’re most interested in the wavelengths that are relevant to plants.  Plants detect wavelengths that include ultraviolet radiation (260–380 nm) and the visible portion of the spectrum (380–740 nm) which includes PAR (400–700 nm), and far-red radiation (700–850 nm).

When considering light spectrum for horticultural applications, greenhouse and indoor environments will differ.  With Indoor environments your grow light’s spectrum will account for the total light spectrum that your crop receives.  Whereas in a greenhouse you must consider that your plants are receiving a combination of grow light and solar spectrum.

Either way, the amount of each spectrum that your crop receives will have significant effects on growth.  Let’s learn more about how this works.


How Do Plants Respond to Light?

Plants use light for photosynthesis and photomorphogenesis. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants and other organisms convert light energy into chemical energy. Photomorphogenesis refers to how plants modify their growth in response to light spectrum.

One example of photomorphogenesis is a plant bending toward a light source. Light also affects plants’ developmental stages, such as germination and flowering.

The light that plants predominately use for photosynthesis ranges from 400–700 nm. This range is referred to as Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) and includes red, blue and green wavebands.

Photomorphogenesis occurs in a wider range from approximately 260–780 nm and includes UV and far-red radiation.

Did You Know?

Chlorophyll a and b are a plant’s primary photosynthetic pigments. It’s important to note that chlorophyll most strongly absorbs red light (600–700 nm) and blue (400–500 nm) and minimally absorbs green light (500–600 nm). Still, photosynthesis is a more complex process than simply chlorophyll absorption and involves other chemicals whose interactions with light spectrum are still being understood.



Want to Learn More?

There’s a lot more to learn in the full version of this article, to learn more – see the full post here


About LumiGrow

LumiGrow revolutionized horticulture in 2008 with the introduction of the first smart LED grow lights in North America.  Today, LumiGrow leads the world forward in grow light innovation with their TopLight and BarLight smart fixtures designed to maximize a growers’ profits.  The LumiGrow lights are wirelessly controlled by their smartPAR software to optimize yield, quality, and custom plant traits.  LumiGrow lights can be fine-tuned for greenhouse environments by pairing with their award-winning smartPAR Light Sensor to ensure consistent crop production year-round at the lowest energy cost.

LumiGrow has the largest install-base of smart LED grow lights in North America with installations worldwide.  For more information about LumiGrow, please see www.lumigrow.com

[Press Release – Austin, Texas] Illumitex, a leader in LED Grow Lights and Digital Ag, announces NeoPARTM XO, a major upgrade to their grow proven NeoPAR LED lighting system designed for vertical agricultural systems. The new NeoPAR XO is a major leap forward in lighting performance and brings the benefits of Illumitex’s horticulturist-curated artificial-intelligent machine-learning FarmVisionAI to the difficult task of vertical farming. 

NeoPAR XO takes Illumitex’s proven LED platform to the highest output commercially available at 1820 μmol/sec with an efficiency of 2.6 μmol/J. The system comes available with a wide range of features, highlighted below, that enable easy, worry-free vertical farming at the largest, densest scales. The high efficiency and low maintenance deliver the dream of profitable and sustainable urban farming ecosystems. 

NeoPAR XO	FarmVisionAI
• 1820.5 mmol/s	• Hi-Resolution Imaging
• 2.6 mmol/J	• 3 glass-lens options
• Full Spectrum plus Far Red	• Multi-terabyte on site
• Daisy Chain or hardwired	• Security at Depth
• 5-year warranty	• Farmer owned data
• Dim-to-off	• FarmWatch
• UL Wet rated, IP65	• Digital Scout

The new NeoPAR XO LED platform goes a step further in performance and capabilities with a native FarmVisionAI integration option. FarmVisionAI gives farmers “peace of mind” with integrated cameras and cloud-based AI that allows them to see any plant, at any level, from anywhere, at any time. FarmWatchTM is the visualization platform allowing you to see every plant on your farm at scale. Digital ScoutTM is the artificial intelligence that is trained to detect nutrition deficiencies, canopy density, and flower counts. “FarmVisionAI for vertical growing is absolutely essential in managing the added complexity of vertical systems,” says Dennis Riling VP of Business Development at Illumitex. “Our DigitalScout can detect biotic and/or abiotic anomalies early in the grow cycle to prevent loss and help improve quality.”

To learn more come see Illumitex at the Canadian greenhouse conference October 9 & 10 in Niagara Falls ON, Canada. If you can’t make the show look us up at www.illumitex.ca to learn more about LED lighting for horticulture and digital transformation of agriculture. 

About Illumitex, Inc.: Illumitex is breaking the boundaries of traditional lighting by combining LED light fixtures with hi-res cameras and cloud-based horticulturist-curated artificial intelligence to deliver radically new value to growers and farmers. With more than a decade of experience in both LED lighting and horticultural science, an absolute dedication to quality and performance, and knowledgeable support for the success of every customer, grow and crop – Illumitex, Inc. is the optimum partner for your greenhouse, vertical farm or any indoor grow initiative.

The amount of investments made in the vertical farming and controlled environment agriculture industries has been well documented. Those companies that successfully raise capital are seen as industry heroes and it’s quickly assumed that they must have all the answers. But, the big question is…do they?

In order to answer that question, it is important to be specific about the questions we are asking, the assumptions we are making and to understand that the answers will come from a wide variety of different perspectives.  

List of questions

Examples of questions I am receiving and ones that we might want to ask include:

• Can a farm using controlled environment agriculture techniques be profitable?
• What crops have proven to be profitable in a greenhouse?
• What crops have proven to be profitable in a warehouse?
• What crops have proven to be profitable in a shipping container?
• What segment of the produce industry are these farms capable of serving?
• What defines a vertical farm?
• What is the difference between a greenhouse and an indoor ag facility?
• What makes controlled environment agriculture techniques and innovations unique?
• Does geographic location play a role in designing a controlled environment agriculture facility?
• Why invest in controlled environment agriculture?
• What problems are we solving?
• Is controlled environment agriculture environmentally sustainable?

The answers to all these questions are extremely important. The answers provide important insight on whether there are existing examples of multiple successful projects in a given region for a given set of crops to be produced in a controlled environment agriculture facility.

An example of how this plays out can be seen when looking at the greenhouse-grown vegetable industry. There are a number of Dutch greenhouse experts for those climates and crops that companies have proven successful over the past decades. But this does not mean that their expertise necessarily transfers to every situation. Any time ag technology and “experience” are taken to a new climate and introduced to a new market and crop there will be problems, mistakes and failures. This has been proven time and time again.

Successful business models

It is also important to realize that it is highly likely that there are many different business models that can be successful as we look at innovation to solve growing problems within horticulture and agriculture. This can easily be seen in existing greenhouse industries.

For those of us close to the industry, we can acknowledge the fact that there are low-, medium- and high-tech greenhouse facilities that are capable of producing good quality crops consistently and profitably. The reason for this is that depending on where the greenhouse is built and the crops that are grown, the greenhouse and the technology within it are designed to serve different purposes based on labor and access to natural resources. It is likely that as the indoor ag industry matures, we will find similar models.

Hurdles to overcome

So, what are the hurdles the indoor ag industry needs to overcome in order to be successful? And how are we as an industry going to achieve this success?

Based on my conversations with many industry leaders, these are the top 11 topics we need to address:

Finally, how are we as an industry going to provide solutions to these challenges or other larger problems?

First, we need to agree on which challenges we should address first and which ones we have the best chance of overcoming. Second, we need to be self critical. We need to determine if these challenges are caused by problems we created and determine if they really need to be solved?

We then need to learn from other industries that have come before us. This means we need some level of open collaboration. We will need some form of standardization. We will need to focus on education. And finally, we will need some luck.

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller

If you are interested in taking this conversation to the next level, I encourage you to join me on social media, at one of the many upcoming events I will be participating in or through collaboration.

Written by Chris Higgins – Urban Ag News and Hort Americas.

The event starts on the evening of Tuesday, October 15 with tours of the LRC facilities, networking events, and a keynote dinner where Dr. Mark Rea of the LRC will discuss the new lighting ecosystem – using lighting to improve human health, enhance food production, and manage renewable energy supplies in the new electric grid. Wednesday, October 16 is a full day with keynote speakers for each of this year’s themed pillars:

• Lighting for Healthcare & Humanity – Robert White, M.D., Director of the Regional Newborn Program at Beacon Children’s Hospital and Chair of the Standards Committee for NICU Design
• Agricultural Lighting – Roger N. Beachy, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biology at Washington University, who led the National Institute of Food and Agriculture under President Obama
• Lighting & the Grid – Janet Joseph, Senior Vice President for Strategy and Market Development at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)

View the full program.

Thursday, October 17 is a half-day workshop led by industry veteran Govi Rao, co-founder and Managing Partner of Carbon Group Global and champion of sustainability. Building on the foundation of the first two days, this last session of the conference will focus on laying the groundwork for a collaborative, integrated and comprehensive approach involving all stakeholders from public and private sectors to academia and civil society — to reframe lighting in the context of global goals, fueled by the emerging possibilities brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution — placing customers at the epicenter of the economy and improving how they are served. Learn more.

This event is open to LRC Partners, Alliance Members, and LRC Members.

Interested in sponsoring our event?
Contact Rebekah Mullaney to find out more.

Additional information about the summit is available at https://www.lrc.rpi.edu/summit

About the Lighting Research Center
The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is the world’s leading center for lighting research and education. Established in 1988 by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the LRC conducts research in light and human health, transportation lighting and safety, solid-state lighting, energy efficiency, and plant health. LRC lighting scientists with multidisciplinary expertise in research, technology, design, and human factors, collaborate with a global network of leading manufacturers and government agencies, developing innovative lighting solutions for projects that range from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to U.S. Navy submarines to hospital neonatal intensive-care units. In 1990, the LRC became the first university research center to offer graduate degrees in lighting and today, offers a M.S. in lighting and a Ph.D. to educate future leaders in lighting. Learn more at www.lrc.rpi.edu.

About Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Founded in 1824, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is America’s first technological research university. Rensselaer encompasses five schools, 32 research centers, more than 145 academic programs, and a dynamic community made up of more than 7,900 students and more than 100,000 living alumni. Rensselaer faculty and alumni include more than 145 National Academy members, six members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, six National Medal of Technology winners, five National Medal of Science winners, and a Nobel Prize winner in Physics. With nearly 200 years of experience advancing scientific and technological knowledge, Rensselaer remains focused on addressing global challenges with a spirit of ingenuity and collaboration.

Indoor Ag Science Café in April was full of data on climate uniformity, crop productivity as well as energy use in indoor farming, presented by Dr. Murat Kacira.  Murat is a professor and the Director of Controlled Environment Agriculture Center at the University of Arizona. The first part was about the importance of designing air distribution system. Good air circulation is important for achieving temperature uniformity within the production system as well as minimizing plant environmental disorder such as tip-burn.  Murat’s research team works on optimization of the air distribution design by using a computational engineering approach called CFD – Computational Fluid Dynamics, which can visualize the possible difference in air speed and temperature distribution with different designs. Murat then described a theoretical analysis of energy use of indoor farms located in selected geographical locations (Duluth, Phoenix, Seattle, and Miami). Then he shared a recent study on lettuce productivity and tip-burn incidence under different combinations of CO₂ concentration and light intensity (daily light integral) conducted in his research facility at the University of Arizona. According to Murat, CO₂ enrichment increased tip-burn incidence at higher DLI. Therefore, 850 ppm CO₂ and 11-13 DLI is what he recommends and can achieve the energy use efficiency of 0.062 kg lettuce fresh weight produced per 1 kWh electric power consumption.

Abstract:

To optimize crop production/quality in space, we studied various “light recipes” that could be used in the Advanced Plant Habitat currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Lettuce (Lactuca sativa cv. ‘Outredgeous’) plants were grown for 28 days under seven treatments of white (W) LEDs (control), red (635 nm) and blue (460 nm) (RB) LEDs, W + blue (B) LEDs, W + green (520 nm) (G) LEDs, W + red (R) LEDs, W + far red (745 nm) (FR) LEDs, and RGB + FR LEDs with ratios similar to natural sunlight. Total PAR was maintained near 180 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ with an 18 h photoperiod. Lettuce grown under RGB + FR produced the greatest leaf expansion and overall shoot biomass, while leaves from WB and RB showed the highest levels of pigmentation, secondary metabolites, and elemental nutrients. All other supplemental treatments had varying impacts on morphology that were dependent on crop age. The WG treatment increased fresh mass early in the cycle, while WR increased biomass later in the cycle. The plants grown under WFR exhibited elongation of petioles, lower nutrient content, and similar shoot biomass to the W control. The findings suggest that supplementing a broad spectrum, white light background with discrete wavelengths can be used to manipulate total yield, morphology, and levels of phytonutrients in lettuce at various times during the crop cycle.

Click here to download the full article on Red Romaine Light Recipes

About Matthew Mickens:

Mickens obtained his Ph.D. in Energy and Environmental Systems from NC A&T State University. His doctoral studies were funded by the NASA Harriett G. Jenkins Predoctoral Fellowship which allowed him to fabricate photoluminescent compounds known as phosphors, which are a major component in white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs). By studying ways to tune and manipulate light spectrum for general lighting, he was placed on a path to discover ways to manipulate light spectrum for plants. After an internship at NASA Kennedy Space Center where he was introduced to plant growth research, he was awarded a fellowship in the NASA Postdoctoral Program to investigate lighting strategies that astronauts could use for food production in space. He is now applying the skills obtained at NASA to manage the installation of an automated indoor vertical farm just outside the greater New York City area to ensure safe, reliable, and controlled crop production here on Earth.

The research team found that for a given growing area, energy savings were possible with some of the tested LED horticultural luminaires compared to the tested high-pressure sodium (HPS) and metal halide (MH) horticultural luminaires, when meeting the same photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) criterion, but there was remarkably wide variation among products.

The LRC chose PPFD as the primary metric for the evaluation because for plants, PPFD is analogous to photopic illuminance on a work surface in an architectural application. Just as it is only valid to compare the power densities of alternate lighting systems at equal illuminance levels on the work plane, the power densities of alternate horticultural luminaires should only be compared when they provide the same PPFD on the plant canopy. The LRC found that, on average, approximately three times as many LED horticultural luminaires would be needed to provide the same PPFD as a typical 1000-watt HPS horticultural luminaire layout.

For this project, the LRC developed an equal-PPFD-based framework for evaluating and comparing horticultural luminaires, which includes 11 luminaire-specific metrics and 5 application-specific metrics to provide growers with the most accurate information regarding any given horticultural luminaire’s performance. The LRC used this framework to evaluate a total of 14 horticultural luminaires, including 10 LED products. The evaluation included photometric testing, application simulations, and life-cycle cost analysis.

The results of the evaluation show that stakeholders can be misled by considering luminaire efficacy alone. Rather, the luminaire intensity distribution and layout to reach a criterion PPFD are necessary for an accurate life-cycle cost analysis. The LRC report provides a technology-neutral framework that stakeholders can use to evaluate lighting systems.

“Upon analyzing our data, we were intrigued by how intensity distribution and layout emerged as key factors in system performance,” said LRC Research Scientist Leora Radetsky, who authored the report.

When choosing a lighting system for a greenhouse, growers should consider the size and number of luminaires needed, because luminaires block daylight from reaching the plants. The LRC shading analysis found an increase in shading from LED luminaires compared with HPS luminaires due to the size of the luminaires and the fact that more are needed to provide the same PPFD. The shading from LED luminaires reduces daylight in a greenhouse by up to 55% compared with a 5% reduction in daylight from HPS luminaires, thus more electric energy could be needed for lighting with the LED systems, depending upon the available daylight.

In a recent LRC survey, 75% of growers identified the cost of LED horticultural lighting to be a barrier to adoption, therefore it was important to include a life-cycle cost analysis in the report. The LRC found that three of the tested LED horticultural luminaire lighting systems had lower life-cycle costs and the remaining seven had higher life-cycle costs than either of the two 1000-watt HPS lighting systems that were tested.

“Energy use and life-cycle costs vary widely among LED and HPS lighting systems used in controlled environment horticulture,” said Radetsky. “It has been the standard approach for many years in the field of architectural lighting, and is becoming readily apparent in horticultural lighting, that we must conduct complete system energy and life-cycle cost analyses to generate an accurate picture of which technology would work best for each particular application.”

The project was funded by the Lighting Energy Alliance and Natural Resources Canada. Members of the Lighting Energy Alliance include Efficiency Vermont, Energize Connecticut, National Grid, and the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.

View the LED and HID Horticultural Luminaire Testing Report.

About the Lighting Energy Alliance

The Lighting Energy Alliance (LEA) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lighting Research Center is a collaboration of members who pool their funds to advance lighting research and education that is of common interest. Since launching in 2014, LEA has worked to identify effective new ways to save energy, quantify the savings, and support its members in implementation.   

About the Lighting Research Center

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is the world’s leading center for lighting research and education. Established in 1988 by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the LRC has been pioneering research in solid-state lighting, light and health, transportation lighting and safety, and energy efficiency for more than 30 years. LRC lighting scientists with multidisciplinary expertise in research, technology, design, and human factors, collaborate with a global network of leading manufacturers and government agencies, developing innovative lighting solutions for projects that range from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to U.S. Navy submarines to hospital neonatal intensive-care units. LRC researchers conduct independent, third-party testing of lighting products in the LRC’s state of the art photometric laboratories, the only university lighting laboratories accredited by the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP Lab Code: 200480-0). In 1990, the LRC became the first university research center to offer graduate degrees in lighting and today, offers a M.S. in lighting and a Ph.D. to educate future leaders in lighting. With 35 full-time faculty and staff, 15 graduate students, and a 30,000 sq. ft. laboratory space, the LRC is the largest university-based lighting research and education organization in the world.

About Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1824, is America’s first technological research university. The university offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in engineering; the sciences; information technology and web sciences; architecture; management; and the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Rensselaer faculty advance research in a wide range of fields, with an emphasis on biotechnology, nanotechnology, computational science and engineering, data science, and the media arts and technology. The Institute has an established record of success in the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace, fulfilling its founding mission of applying science “to the common purposes of life.”

Canadian researchers at the Harrow Research and Development Centre are working with growers to determine which horticultural lights are the most effective and efficient for producing tall greenhouse vegetable crops.

When it comes to the collecting data on using LEDs on tall greenhouse vegetable crops, there isn’t a clear picture on how well they perform. Shalin Khosla, greenhouse vegetable specialist at Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said much of the early research that has been done with LEDs has been on ornamental flowering crops and leafy green vegetables.

“Not a lot of research has been done on tall-growing vegetable crops like tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers,” Khosla said. “Growers need a light recipe for growing tall vegetable crops. Another factor as to why more of these tall vegetable crop growers haven’t made the switch to LEDs is the cost of the fixtures compared to high pressure sodium lamps.”

Comparing HPS to LED lights

Khosla said the latest LED light fixtures have a better electricity to light conversion factor than the best HPS light fixture.

“Some LED light fixtures are better than others,” he said. “Some are more efficient than others. The efficiency of the latest LEDs is better than the best HPS, in terms of converting electricity to light.

“The best HPS lights produce 10 percent convective heat, 50 percent radiation heat and 40 percent light. With the best LED fixtures there is 35 percent convective heat, 15 percent radiation heat and 50 percent light. Comparing the two lights, the LED fixtures can be placed closer to the plants without harming them. Whereas with the HPS light, which is generating more heat, it needs to be placed further away from the plants. That is why LED lights can be used for interlighting. The HPS light would be too hot for interlighting and would burn the plants.”

Khosla said light manufacturers are working on designing HPS lights that don’t give off as much heat. They are also looking for ways to remove some of that heat.

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“Manufacturers of HPS lights are working on the conversion factor so that more electricity is going to produce light rather than heat,” he said. “They are improving the efficiency so more light is given off than heat. If I want to put a light fixture in a small space like a growth room or vertical farm, a LED light would be used because there is not as much heat given off. In a tall greenhouse, HPS lights can be used for top lighting because there isn’t as much of a concern of damage with the amount of heat given off. In fact this heat will offset some of the heat requirements to grow the crop in the winter.”

Khosla said the newer larger LED fixtures are more efficient and are suitable to use similarly as overhead HPS lamps.

“Light manufacturers have not yet achieved a one-to-one replacement LED for HPS, but they are getting closer,” he said. “HPS bulbs emit light in all directions so it has to be bounced back down towards the crop. The reflector has a huge influence on how good the light reception level is. LED light is more direct and it may be focused to specific parts of the plant.”

Developing light recipes

Khosla said HPS lights emit a broad spectrum of light with peaks in the blue and red range. With LED lights, which produce specific wavebands, researchers are able to study the impact these specific wavebands can have on plant growth, flowering and fruiting.

Khosla along with Dr. Xiuming Hao at the Harrow Research and Development Centre are studying the effects of HPS and LED light on tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. They are comparing the growth of crops under HPS and LEDs separately as well as combining HPS top lighting with LED interlighting.

“There are three groups, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, OMAFRA, and Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers Association, working together on this lighting project,” Khosla said. “We are conducting research with HPS top lighting and LED interlighting on tall vegetable crops. We’ve studied mini-cucumbers for three years. We began lighting a newly planted crop in September and continued through April. We were able to produce 60 kilograms per square meter. That is a very decent yield for a single mini-cucumber crop grown during the winter months under Ontario’s climatic conditions.

“We are also conducting studies to compare the difference between growing these three crops under the HPS and LED lights separately as well as using the two types of lights together. There is a difference in light intensity from the top of the plant to the bottom of the plant. We need a working light profile. We can alter the spectrum of the light within the crop itself by using different color LED lights.

Khosla said preliminary results have shown there is an improved yield when HPS lights and LEDs are combined.

“We have been able to increase the fruit dry matter content,” he said. “We also had slightly better quality fruit when we combined the two kinds of light than when we used HPS lights by themselves.

“All three crops showed improved responses, but at different levels. Cucumbers showed the best results. For peppers and tomatoes the results were not as dramatic. We still have to do more studies on both of these crops.”

Determining payback

Khosla said it’s very hard to determine the difference in payback between HPS and LED fixtures because their efficiency and prices are constantly changing.

“We are still working on what the payback would be,” he said. “We are working with some growers who have installed LEDs, but are still collecting the data.

“Most of the growers we are working with have had the lights installed for about a year. For this pilot project, we are only looking at a section of the greenhouse, not the whole operation. Growers are waiting to see the full results before they invest in the lights. The growers are using the lights on tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. They are looking at the cost of electricity, the cost of the fixtures and the yields to determine how viable this is. We are expecting to have this part of the study completed by next year.”

Khosla said each of the Canadian provinces has its own energy rebate program.

“In Ontario, Hydro One offers a rebate program for greenhouse lighting for retrofits and new builds,” he said. “As long as growers can prove they are using less electricity with the lights or whatever equipment improvement they make they can qualify for a rebate.”

Khosla advises growers considering purchasing any type of horticultural lighting to look at how efficiently are the lights converting electricity to light.

“If growers are interested in LEDs they need to be sure the light waveband combinations are correct for the crops they’re growing,” he said. “Growers should also work with a lighting company that can supply information about the light fixtures as well as providing reliable fixtures. Growers should contact other growers who are using the fixtures to find out their experience with them. Just like any other equipment purchase, growers need to do their homework before buying any type of lights, HPS or LED.”

For more: Shalin Khosla, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Harrow Research Centre, 2585 County Road 20, Harrow, Ontario N0R 1G0; (519) 738-1257; shalin.khosla@ontario.ca.

This research study is sponsored by Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, Agriculture Agri-Food Canada, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs and Growing Forward 2.

David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas; dkuack@gmail.com.

Researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands are studying the effects of LED lights on the growth, flowering and fruiting of vegetable and ornamental plants in controlled environments.

Dutch growers who are building new greenhouses or adding new grow lights to their existing operations are comparing high pressure sodium (HPS) and light emitting diodes (LEDs) when making their decision.

“At the moment there aren’t as many growers making the switch from HPS to LEDs,” said Leo Marcelis, head of chair group horticulture and product physiology at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. “Most growers who have made the investment in HPS lamps, they’re not just going to replace HPS with LEDs. It’s growers who are starting with a new greenhouse or who are retrofitting an existing greenhouse without lamps who are looking to install LEDs.

“The other growers who are adding LEDs are the ones who already have installed HPS and want to increase the light intensity and are adding LED interlighting. They are combining HPS top lighting with LED interlighting. This is occurring especially with the tall greenhouse vegetable crops like tomatoes. The HPS lamps are installed over the top of the crop and the interlighting LEDs are installed within the canopy.”

Many unanswered questions

With the increased grower interest in LEDs, researchers at the university are focusing more of their studies on the effects of single and combined light wavebands on plant growth, flowering and fruiting.

“Most of the research we are doing on lighting is with LEDs,” Marcelis said. “High pressure sodium lamps are still the standard for most growers so the lamps are still relevant. But for our research there is not as much being done with HPS as with LEDs. We are focusing more on LEDs. The opportunities created by LEDs, there are so many questions still unanswered about using LEDs. As growers start to put in new lights they are making the switch to LEDs. We expect more of that to occur in the coming years.”

Focus on controlled environment crops

Marcelis said greenhouse tomatoes are the largest crop in the Netherlands, even bigger than cut flowers such as roses and potted ornamental crops such as orchids.

“Tomato is the most important crop in our research. In the Netherlands there are about 1,700 hectares of tomatoes in glass houses. About 1/3 of that area is equipped with HPS lamps. There are about 1,200 hectares of sweet peppers in glass houses with only a few hectares equipped with HPS lights. The calculations are such that the economics are not that profitable for sweet pepper and cucumber. It is more economical and profitable to light tomatoes, not sweet peppers and cucumbers. There are more growers starting to grow strawberries in greenhouses who are using LEDs to control the day length. More growers are also using LEDs for assimilation lighting.”

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Marcelis said lettuce is another crop that is being studied whether it’s grown in vertical farming setups in warehouse facilities or in greenhouse operations. Roses and phalaenopsis orchids are the most important ornamental crops being studied.

“We currently aren’t doing any projects with cucumbers or sweet peppers using LEDs,” he said. “Since there are not as many growers using lights on these two crops, we are not focusing our research on them, but this could easily change in the coming years.”

Focused on issues important to growers

Marcelis said most of the university’s lighting research projects are on greenhouse produce because that is the area of most economic activity in the Netherlands.

“Vertical farming is attracting a lot of attention,” he said. “We are also conducting research in climate chambers which can have application to vertical farming.

“We are looking at different aspects of lighting, including light spectrum and energy savings. Energy savings is an important issue with the growers so we are doing a lot of research on that. If the light used is more efficient, then there can be energy savings. Talking to the growers, year-round production, fruit quality and energy savings are the issues they’re interested in. If growers can increase production with the same amount of light, then there is an energy savings.

“The majority of lights are used for assimilation. They are primarily used from September through April. The greenhouses are equipped with climate control and the growers are measuring outside radiation. If the outside radiation falls below a designated level, then the lamps are often turned on. The growers typically choose a time frame during the day. From September through April all of the lights are used. After April then the lights might be used during relatively dark days.”

Looking at plant processes

Marcelis said the researchers are doing a lot of studies on photosynthesis and the morphology or architecture of the plants.

“Affecting the morphology impacts the light absorption of plants and the light distribution,” he said. “We feel light distribution is a very important issue where improvements can be made. We also do work with three dimensional assimilation models. From light absorption it goes to total growth of the plant as a whole. Another area of research is the distribution of assimilates among the different plant organs.”

Marcelis said there is also some preliminary research that indicates plants can be made more resistant to diseases, particularly increasing the resistance of roses to powdery mildew.

“We have done experiments that have indicated that we can improve disease resistance. Flower induction is also very important. It can be done now with controlling photoperiod, but can it be done using different spectra?

“There is also some work being done on the quality of the plants. Is it possible to focus the light on the tomato fruit in order to increase the vitamin C content? Some of the same things can be done with lettuce. We are also starting to look at post-harvest qualities. So we are looking at not only what can be done during cultivation, but also can the post-harvest quality of the fruit be improved. This also includes lengthening the shelf life of lettuce and cut flowers.”

Marcelis said studies are also being conducted in cooperation with commercial breeding companies and breeding researchers at the university.

“One of the projects is screening 40 different genotypes, including commercial cultivars,” he said. “One study is looking at the variation between genotypes under LEDs. The breeders will look at the variation between genotypes and try to determine why the variation is occurring. What parts of the plant are affected? Can breeders predict if varieties will do well or not so well under certain wavebands?

“There are all of these different genotypes. Some do better under white light than a mixture of red and blue. Some genotypes are showing better results under red and blue light. They all don’t respond similarly. For breeders it means there is a lot of opportunity and room for improvement. Since the focus is on using LEDs with tomatoes that is where most of the breeding research is being done.”

For more: Leo Marcelis, Wageningen University, Horticulture and Product Physiology Group, Wageningen, The Netherlands; (31) 317-485-675;
leo.marcelis@wur.nl; http://www.hpp.wur.nl

David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas; dkuack@gmail.com.

Scientists, university researchers, graduate students and industry representatives from 25 countries attended the 8th International Symposium on Light in Horticulture at Michigan State University.

Michigan State University hosted the 8th International Symposium on Light in Horticulture from May 22-26, 2016. This was the first time the symposium, which began in 1969, was held in the United States. The symposium was attended by 250 people from 25 countries.

Michigan State horticulture professors Roberto Lopez and Erik Runkle were the organizers and co-conveners of the symposium.

“The symposium is part of the International Society for Horticultural Science,” Lopez said. “The light symposium is held every three to five years.”

Lopez, who is the chair of the ISHS Workgroup Light in Horticulture, said he and Runkle began working on the symposium three years ago.

“ISHS is similar to the American Society for Horticultural Science, but ISHS is for international participation,” Lopez said. “ISHS, which has more than 130 working groups, also holds an international congress every four years. It is open to all of its members, making for a very large scientific meeting. The 30th International Horticultural Congress is scheduled for Istanbul, Turkey, in 2018.”

Lopez said light symposium attendees made up a very diverse group that included scientists, researchers, graduate students, growers and members of various companies which helped sponsor the event.

“There are two ISHS conferences that I typically attend, this light symposium and the International Symposium on New Ornamental Crops,” he said. “The ornamentals symposium attracts more people because ornamentals and floriculture are more general than lighting. Lighting is more specific to certain countries and northern latitudes or to places that are just now starting to produce plants indoors. This would include primarily Europe, the U.S., Canada, Korea and Japan. These were the countries that had the most participants at the light symposium. In terms of the number of oral and poster sessions, there were an equal number of researchers focused on ornamentals and vegetables.”

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Horticulture industry steps up

Lopez said planning the light symposium and preparing the written proceedings that accompany it are very time consuming.

“There is a lot of speculation as to what the conference is going to cost and how many people are going to attend,” he said. “As hosts we take on the financial burden because we really don’t know what the attendance will be. Erik and I anticipated 200-300 participants based on the previous symposium that was held in the Netherlands in 2012.”

Lopez said they received financial support from 25 industry companies.

“There were different categories of sponsorship, including three prime sponsors for the symposium’s opening reception, banquet and tours. There were three additional levels of sponsorship, platinum, gold and silver. Sponsoring companies included many of the leading plant light companies, plant breeding companies, distributors, an industry association and the trade press.

“The sponsors were recognized on the light symposium’s website, as well as banners that were hung in different locations during the symposium. The sponsors received a lot of exposure and those at the prime and platinum levels had vendor booths that featured product information and samples. Because of the sponsors’ financial support, we were able to lower the cost of the registration fee for attendees. We were also able to subsidize the graduate student registration cost.”

There were 35 graduate students who presented both oral and poster sessions. The students came from several different countries.

“We also had a graduate student poster competition,” Lopez said. “Three winners were awarded. There were three judges, all representatives from academia in the U.S., Europe and Japan. The poster winners were awarded certificates and monetary awards provided by a sponsor company.”

Organizing the presentations

Lopez said he and Runkle began accepting abstracts from potential symposium presenters in Feb. 2015.

“There is a scientific committee that consists of 39 people, most of whom have a PhD. or are working toward a PhD.,” he said. “Over 90 percent of the committee members are from academia, but there are also industry members.

“We had a call for abstracts so people would submit an abstract based on the research they wanted to present. Participants who submitted abstracts indicated whether they wanted to do an oral or poster presentation. The scientific committee members reviewed the abstracts. Often times we had to send them back because there was definitely a language barrier in some cases. Often times some researchers needed help with the English translation. A lot of the researchers wanted to do oral presentations, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough time during the symposium.”

Lopez said committee members decided that some of the abstracts were more appropriate as posters than as oral presentations. There were 52 oral presentations and 78 poster presentations.

“We created 11 different oral sessions and within those sessions we tried our best to place the presentations appropriately under those titles,” he said. “The largest session was on light quality and optimization. There were an equal number of U.S. and European presenters in that session.

“The next largest session was supplemental lighting of vegetable crops. That one had research presenters mostly from Canada and Europe. No U.S. researchers did presentations in that session. Light for ornamental crops and sole-source lighting of vegetable crops were the next largest sessions.”

In addition to organizing the symposium presentations, Lopez and Runkle along with Iowa State University horticulture professor Chris Currey were co-editors of the Acta Horticulturae publication, “Proceedings of the VIII International Symposium on Light in Horticulture”.

“The majority of presentations published in the proceedings are the oral ones with a few of the poster presentations,” Lopez said. “We did request everyone who was going to do an oral presentation to write a manuscript. There were also some people who were doing posters that also submitted manuscripts. These were peer reviewed by the scientific committee.”

The Acta Horticulturae light symposium proceedings are available on the ISHS website for 105 euros.

Along with the researchers who did oral presentations there were four invited speakers, two from the United States, one from the Netherlands and one from New Zealand.

“The invited speaker presentations were longer and spurred a lot of conversation,” Lopez said. “The invited speakers started off specific topic sessions. They would give an overview of that session and then the presenters would go into their research talks.

“The invited speakers discussed future approaches to better understanding of light quality on plant growth and development. Others talked about UV light and horticulture. Kevin Folta from the University of Florida, who was one of the invited speakers, discussed how to control the light spectrum to manipulate plant responses such as growth, flavor and pigmentation.”

The next ISHS Light Symposium is tentatively scheduled for June 2020 in Alnarp, Sweden, and will be organized by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

For more:  Roberto Lopez, Michigan State University, Department of Horticulture, East Lansing, MI 48824;
(517) 353-0342;
rglopez@msu.edu;
http://www.hrt.msu.edu/people/dr_roberto_lopez

Erik Runkle, Michigan State University, Department of Horticulture,
East Lansing, MI 48824;
(517) 353-0350;
runkleer@msu.edu;
http://www.hrt.msu.edu/people/dr_erik_runkle

David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas; dkuack@gmail.com.

SAN FRANCISCO– Light Polymers, a nanochemistry startup with R&D operations in Silicon Valley, Taiwan and Korea, is debuting their GrowBlade flat-panel horticulture lighting at the third annual NYC AgTech Week.

Light Polymers is debuting their GrowBlade horticulture lighting at the annual NYC AgTech Week. #nycagtechweek

Hosted by the NYC Agriculture Technology Collective, NYC AgTech Week 2017 includes tours, workshops and presentations that engage attendees on the bleeding edge of urban agriculture knowledge and development. AgTech Week 2017 kicks off on September 16^th followed by 6 days of events across the city. Light Polymers is also September’s featured sponsor for Agritecture, a leading urban agriculture blog and a founding member of the collective.

Light Polymers’ GrowBlade flat-panel grow lights are part of a new generation of LED lights that improve the productivity of multi-layer indoor cultivation for leafy greens and herbs, seedlings, clones, grafts and tissue culture. GrowBlade flat panels are made possible by our proprietary Crystallin^® lyotropic coating and suspension chemistry which is water-based, lowering manufacturing costs.

“Our self-aligning coatings can be applied with high yield and low cost. The coating packs phosphor particles in a dense layer maximizing light conversion, allowing us to lower both production and operating costs. The result is GrowBlade light panels that are cheaper, thinner and more efficient than conventional grow lights. These advancements mean lower initial costs, lower operating costs and improved productivity for indoor farms,” said Sandor Schoichet, VP of Grow Products at Light Polymers.

About Light Polymers

Light Polymers is a nanochemistry company with deep domain knowledge of lyotropic liquid crystals, which have use in many applications including LCD and OLED flat panel displays, LED lighting, building materials and biomedical applications. Founded in 2013 in San Francisco, Light Polymers’ water-based coating and suspension chemistry is game-changing for a number of industries. For more information, visit http://www.lightpolymers.com/

About NYC AgTech Week 2017:

The Third Annual NYC AgTech Week will showcase the efforts of entrepreneurs, farmers and technologists who are advancing urban agriculture in New York City and beyond. The week commences with a brunch kick-off at Agritecture’s office at 40 Bushwick Ave and continues from September 16-21 at locations around the city. AgTech Week will feature farm tours, workshops, demos, networking and the ever popular Locavore Feast. Shown here is a recap video from the 2016 edition of NYC AgTech Week.