Need input from you pros. Build vs. Buy something like optic8+

[kmb]

I’d argue the DIY community is ahead of what companies sell.

The bigger the company the worse it is since they have to design a light, build, test, mass produce and sell. By the time their light hits the market they are 2 years behind, using suboptimal diodes.

Illumitex is a good example, a big company that were pushers of optimal spectrums, just recently they released the neopar a “full-spectrum” aka white light platform that is surprisingly similiar to the HLG550 and what the DIY community has been moving towards the last two years...

Even with HLG the DIY community was making the switch from the LM561C to the more efficient LM301B before HLG did.

[Professor Xavier]

Thats really the thing, actually. There is surprisingly little info for commercial opps dealing with say cucumbers or strawberries, if you can't apply from research data with RGB diodes. A while back I was contacted by a group of friends who wanted to take over a huge greenhouse. I read pretty much all the available literature I could find on common plants in heated greenhouses, from climates similar to ours.
There was surprisingly little applicable information, it was surprisingly difficult to make projections etc. so less experienced farmers can easily get gassed by sales reps that offer a sure package with lots of calculations etc. Filling a 2000m2 greenhouse with 1500$ lights sounds pretty mad to me, but in Europe such purchases might be tax deductible or something. In our case the EU would have payed 70% of all gear, because they are trying to develop that area.

I think currently the industry game is to act like a direct replacement for HID, although really led calls for being as close as possible, with an even spread over the canopy.

Aren't the strips waterproof? at least most of the drivers are. Would not cost too much to order waterproof housing for the strips and cables from alibaba.

They are not waterproof. My best friend, a Master Electrician, questioned me very thoroughly on both strip lights and quantum boards.... and didn't seem satisfied by the data sheets' answers I provided. That being said, I have been unable to find enclosures that fit these strips quite yet - which is essentially what Progrowtech and Fluence are very intelligently doing for waterproofing - that and pursuing UL or CSA certification so they can sell commercially and have insurance companies sign off on facilities using those luminaires.

[unkle_psycho]

There was a company on alibaba that made hundreds of different enclosures, and had quite a few waterproof models. I'll see if I can dig their name and catalogue up from somewhere. Good to know they are not waterproof.

[alienfarts687]

Thats really the thing, actually. There is surprisingly little info for commercial opps dealing with say cucumbers or strawberries, if you can't apply from research data with RGB diodes. A while back I was contacted by a group of friends who wanted to take over a huge greenhouse. I read pretty much all the available literature I could find on common plants in heated greenhouses, from climates similar to ours.
There was surprisingly little applicable information, it was surprisingly difficult to make projections etc. so less experienced farmers can easily get gassed by sales reps that offer a sure package with lots of calculations etc. Filling a 2000m2 greenhouse with 1500$ lights sounds pretty mad to me, but in Europe such purchases might be tax deductible or something. In our case the EU would have payed 70% of all gear, because they are trying to develop that area.

I think currently the industry game is to act like a direct replacement for HID, although really led calls for being as close as possible, with an even spread over the canopy.

Aren't the strips waterproof? at least most of the drivers are. Would not cost too much to order waterproof housing for the strips and cables from alibaba.

They are not waterproof. My best friend, a Master Electrician, questioned me very thoroughly on both strip lights and quantum boards.... and didn't seem satisfied by the data sheets' answers I provided. That being said, I have been unable to find enclosures that fit these strips quite yet - which is essentially what Progrowtech and Fluence are very intelligently doing for waterproofing - that and pursuing UL or CSA certification so they can sell commercially and have insurance companies sign off on facilities using those luminaires.

Waterproof strips are a dime a dozen on eBay, Alibaba, etc. But NOT the Samsung or Cree chips. Or at least, there's hardly any way of knowing what chips you're getting.

I've seen some waterproof enclosures for the rigid strips on Alibaba, but like any lenses, they diffuse the light a bit, so you need to take that into account by either using more strips or running them harder.

[unkle_psycho]

The waterproof housing would reduce light a little, but I imagine they could be used super efficiently, for example side, or inter-canopy lighting... running soft in housing would likely prevent leaf burn from touching leds, so lights could be run soft practically touching leaves. The proximity would likely compensate for the minor loss from the diffusion.