LED lighting lets farmers optimize conditions in a more energy efficient way
By Diego Flammini, Farms.com
The benefits of farming in a greenhouse or warehouse, sometimes referred to as vertical farming are obvious: a controlled environment where farmers can adjust temperature, light and water to boost production.
Most indoor farms use high-pressure sodium lights (HPS), but light emitting diodes (LEDs) are on the verge of becoming the lights of choice for indoor farmers.
“There will be a revolution,” said Cary Mitchell, horticulture professor at Purdue University. “I think that in a decades [sic] time, LED will become the de facto lighting source for controlled-environment agriculture.”
LED lights don’t get as hot as traditional HPS, allowing for farmers to put them closer to the plants, allowing them to soak up more of the light.
Mitchell’s group of researchers discovered it costs almost four times more to produce the same amount of fruit with HPS than LEDs. LEDs cost more to purchase than HPS, but Mitchell doesn’t see that as a deterrent for farmers.
“When economies of scale get to a certain point and mass production starts bringing costs down, this will really catch on,” Mitchell said. “This isn’t a flash in the pan — there’s a real trend in this new industry of indoor agriculture.”
Currently, a University of Florida team is working on different LED lighting requirements for different crops.