LED strips for shelving units - help

[GreenGrow]

Hi guys!

I'm about to grow trays of arugula and microgreens in shelving units.
Possibly other greens as well in the future, but I'm starting with these two crops.
Microgreens don't seem to need a very high PPFD while arugula seems to like a DLI of 17.
The arugula numbers are based on this article:
https://gpnmag.com/article/growing-hydr ... fy-greens/

17 DLI is reached at 300 PPFD during 16h, which is what I'm aiming for.
I am currently growing with a concept lamp that I chose from diy-led-strip-build-designs
Samsung F-Series LT-F562B 2′ LED Strip Build – 2’x2′ (SI-B8T261560WW)

I have a square meter with reflective mylar walls surrounding it.
When I placed the strips in a square format, I reached a quite even PPFD footprint. Averaging all the numbers out, I landed just shy of 300 PPFD at 30cm distance.

I am currently test-growing arugula with 17 DLI and hope to somehow be able to transfer this light intensity and concept into shelving unit format in the near future.

I took a peek over at HLGs website and from their provided wattage and measurements of the HLG65 and HLG100, a PCB surface area of 10cm2/w seems to be enough for decent passive cooling without a heatsink. Can I apply the same thinking to Samsung strips?

The strips I used now did great intensity-wise, but may not be as practical in a shelving unit and seem to be a no-go without a heatsink.
I see that the Q-strips at Digikey (SI-B8T101560US), are tested with 450ma and 21.9V. If I am not mistaken, this results in just below 10w of power and with the strips being 560.00mm L x 18.00mm W, that makes it roughly 10cm2/w.

I have not yet figured out the different ways of driving strips and the pros and cons of different solutions. I have the Q-strips in mind, thinking about my next version for this lamp in a shelving unit.
Am I on the right track? Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

[TEKNIK]

I would reccomend optisolis strips from cutter in 5000k for microgreens because of the much broader spectrum

[GreenGrow]

My hopes are to find a solution that is both efficient and hopefully somewhat cost-effective. When one shelf is up and working, I plant to expand with a lot more shelves. In other words, I plan to buy strips in bulk after I've figured this out, and to sell greens for profit.

How does Nichia compare to Samsung? I'm used to seeing the lm/w and umol/j values. I've understood that spectrum plays a big part. Is Nichia more efficient than Samsung? If not, does spectrum win over efficacy in this case? What are your thoughts?

Thank you for your recommendations and input, it is very appreciated.

[TEKNIK]

For standard CRI80 and 90 LEDs Nichia and Samsung have similar performance.
Nichias optisolis 5000k is a very different spectrum, it is a true full spectrum from 420nm through to 700nm.
Spectrum can change flavours of microgreens and as optisolis is a much flatter and broader spectrum it will improve your results for flavour.

Efficiency does drop with optisolis by about 30%
This doesn't mean 30% less yield though.
If you are serious about using these LEDs to run a business then I suggest to do a trial of standard type LEDs Vs optisolis to see the difference in quality for yourself.

[GreenGrow]

It does sound very interesting and I am curious about the difference.
Sounds like a good idea to build one lamp of each setup and compare them.

Would you say the SSK-1560-5097NIC is best compared with lm301b 4000k 80 CRI?
I am looking at the spectrums at Samsung's website and the 5000k one has so much blue:red ratio.
The 4000k one seems better balanced with a lower blue peak (?).
I know it is popular with a heavy blue spectrum for greens, but I'm thinking too much blue will decrease yield. I may be wrong though.

[TEKNIK]

Cyan is the main difference along with that extra 430nm and 420nm. It's worth a try to see what the difference is if you want to do it on a large scale. People pay a premium for better tasting ingredients. I want to do the same thing as you one day soon so I am developing a few different products to do it.
I am not interested in having 1000 customers that buy on price, I would rather have 20 customers that buy on quality.
If I have 1000 customers price competing is an issue, then I also need to employ people to help with the work load. In the end I am better off having fewer customers that are happy to pay more to get something special and not have to put up with employees that don't do thier job right

[GreenGrow]

Indeed. Having a good price may be great, but having a premium products is better.

If I've understood the situation; Nichia makes the chips and Cutter makes the strips?
I'm in northern Europe at the moment, if that matters.

"Drive 6 in series off HLG-320H-C1050B total 316 Watts" -Cutter
It looks like I might be able to cover roughly 3sqm with this setup, at 100w/sqm.

Cutter mentions: "Board has 112 leds spaced on 0.5mm pitch for maximum utilisation of the PCB real estate."
Do you know if they make custom strips? Half the diode density could give a smoother and more even intensity with twice the amount of strips. It might be a better comparison against Samsung.

[TEKNIK]

They custom make the strips, you need to consider pcb costs and assembley also.
You probably wouldn't save all that much on a pcb with less LEDs. I wouldn't worry about it for a trial, if it came to a large buy from you then they could make a new pcb for you to suit your needs. They have alot of pcbs and not all are on the website.

Cutter is on here his member name is Welight if you want to send him a message, they may have some other options for you.
I know they have supplied herb farms with optisolis, also some have purchased the PC red LEDs from them also for growing herbs.
He may have more information for you than I do

[randorson]

T5 > LED conversion strips are nice It is nice to have integrated ballast, and the daisy chain feature offered by nearly all T5 fixtures. The form factor is also water resistant enough for spraying and spills.

Work well with shelving units from Costco.
Trinity NSF 6-Tier Wire Shelving Rack, 48"x18"x72" Item 1242823
https://www.costco.com/Trinity-NSF-6-Ti ... 12448.html

I have tried a number of brands over the years. My favorite are TopStar L46T5HO
https://www.bulbsdepot.com/l46t5ho-850-24p-p6-eb.html

I can get a ppfd reading for you if you are interested. I can tell you they grow (veg) the hell out of cannabis plants.
You may be able to save money and have a lighting system with easily replaceable and source-able components.

Also, black and white ploy aka panda film is more reflective than mylar and imo easier to work with.

[GreenGrow]

I just ordered 6 Nichias and 14 lm301b strips. I'm fairly sure that both setups will be overkill for testing, but my goal is to dim them down to the same light intensity and then compare them.

It would be awesome to have waterproof LED T5/T8 style ligting. The bulbs you linked are quite efficent. I will definitely save this link for later, so thanks a ton for that.

I have an idea about protection against dripping from above, mounted on the underside of each shelf, a sheet of thin metal that hopefully would also work as a heatsink. Would be great to just tape strips right onto it. But if that isn't practical, T5/T8-style might be the next option to aim for.

Thanks for the input guys! Very much appreciated.