LEDgardener

I'm very interested, especially in spectrums. Efficiency can be interesting as an experiment, but for production its just a calculation. Spectrum has enough mystery to keep me interested.

Now combining efficiency and spectrum like on the crustacian boards is amazing. I think there are lots of people who would pay premium to have something special like that.

The thing about efficiency although important is how well do things actually grow under them? Anyone can make a really high efficiency grow light but does it actually grow in real life or just on paper. Prawn made the boards he has out of experience and knowledge as he knows what works. They are far from 3m/joule but in terms of the efficiency people should really be concerned with I am sure that Or_Gro will provide a very comprehensive answer to that over the next few months.
I am a lot more interested in spectrum rather than the efficiency race to the top as anyone can put leds on a board now days, but using the right combination of leds to get the required results is another story.

Im waiting for a quote from Future electronics on 2 and 4 foot versions.

Rocket Soul wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 01, 2019 1:34 pm

Im waiting for a quote from Future electronics on 2 and 4 foot versions.

Did you get the quote back yet?

I am considering producing a vesta type 2 channel strip to compete with the bridgelux gen3.

I have a question though, would people be interested in taking a hit of efficacy to have a broader spectrum such as 400nm and 420nm in the mix or is what looks good on paper more important to everyone?

The efficiency you get with 97cri is awesome. For a larger setup I would worry more about price. For a smaller 120w 2x2 it would be easier to pay premium. Been so busy never got at the crustacian about his.

Adam wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 06, 2019 7:08 pm

Rocket Soul wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 01, 2019 1:34 pm

Im waiting for a quote from Future electronics on 2 and 4 foot versions.

Did you get the quote back yet?

Not yet, chasing up next week

@Rocket Soul
Would you be willing to drop efficiency from 2.8 to 2.5m/joule for added near UV on strips?
My idea was to produce a 5000k with 400nm and 430 nm on one channel and 2700K on the other channel. 2700k I can make to 2.8.

I get asked a lot for strips for microgreens and want something that fills in the 5000K but can still be adjusted to suit what ever else is growing

TEKNIK wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 07, 2019 9:05 am

@Rocket Soul
Would you be willing to drop efficiency from 2.8 to 2.5m/joule for added near UV on strips?
My idea was to produce a 5000k with 400nm and 430 nm on one channel and 2700K on the other channel. 2700k I can make to 2.8.

I get asked a lot for strips for microgreens and want something that fills in the 5000K but can still be adjusted to suit what ever else is growing

Im not sure if id go with a 5000k channel if i had to chose. The vestas we have did great when we got rid of the cold white, and average before. Adding some wide blue and violet would be a definite sweetener. But id make sure both channels could be used for flower. Id go for something like a 3500k 90 cri for the other channel, maybe even 3000k 90cri if the extra blue brought output to around 3500k.
As for efficiency: the way i see it is usually leveraging diode count is preferable to chase highest efficiency. Id happily take a 10% loss in efficiency (about the same amount you gain from dropping power to half) if it brought the price down to half so i could use twice as many. Or better said: id rather run 2 strips at 2.3 ppf/j than one strip at 2.7 but twice the power.
That is why i love the vestas: about 200 diodes for next to nothing, less than 10$.

What i would really enjoy is a 2 foot strip with 2 channels: one main for red using new xpg and another with maybe max 2-3 diodes to be used with either wide blue/violet or far red (or even IR)
The xpgs look amazing: they almost double the output and still remain in high efficiency territory.
But i dont know if there are special considerations for building a strip with 6 w chips geared towards max amps.
Second channel: its a bitch to have to buy so many different strips and diodes to get separate channels for 660/730/blue/violet supplementation. If you have to fit them all on a u-channel or similar it gets hard to get things even.
I think a strip that would allow for 2 channels would help with a lot of builds. And since blue/violet/far red is more about having it than having loads of it, it makes sense to have these in a smaller channel. What do you think?

Sounds like you need to wait a few more months to see what I am doing. I think it will cover it all for you