Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
The future of horticultural lighting cannot be dis-
cussed without mentioning light emitting diodes. Light
emitting diodes (LEDs) have also come a long way
since they were fi rst introduced to the horticultural
industry. Although the fi rst generations of horticultural
LEDs failed to meet the demands of indoor horticultur-
ists, horticultural LED manufacturers didn’t stop work-
ing on more effective and more effi cient LED lighting
systems. The ability to customize the spectral output,
a low heat signature, and the highest ratio of PAR per
watt of energy consumed are all attributes of today’s
LED horticultural lighting systems.
Chips on Board (COB) Light Emitting Diodes
(LEDs)
One of the most recent developments in horticul-
tural LEDs is the COB (chips on board) technology.
COB LED systems have multiple light emitting diodes
packed into a single module. The groups of LEDs in
a COB system are easier to integrate into an effective
horticultural light source. The most impressive fea-
ture of COB LEDs is their radiant effi ciency. A typical
HID (single ended) system has a radiant effi ciency
of around 30%. This means that roughly 70% of the
electricity being used by the system is lost as heat and
not converted into usable light. A COB LED has a ra-
diant effi ciency of 40-50%, which, relatively speaking
makes them one of the most effi cient artifi cial light
sources for growing plants. All in all, COB LED light-
ing systems are the most effi cient when it comes to
converting electricity into usable light and are surely a
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September 2018