Philips introduces new GreenPower LED toplight range

Philips Horticulture LED lighting, a leading innovator of lighting technologies to improve crop farming, introduces the new GreenPower LED toplighting range extension and a brand new design for the North American market at Cultivate’ 15. GreenPower LED toplighting is now one-and-a-half times more efficient at converting electricity to light (up to 2.7 μmol/Joule) than any HPS system on the market. LED toplighting produces significantly less radiation heat than conventional HPS lamps, so growers can adjust light and temperature more independently. This allows the grower to grow better crops, faster, year-round and control the greenhouse climate more precisely. 

Udo van Slooten, General Manager of Philips Horticulture LED Solutions adds, “This is an important step in making LED lighting systems 100% suitable to grow crops ranging from high-wire crops and leafy greens to cut flowers, pot and bedding plants. We have seen incredible results also in propagation by significantly improving quality as well as faster rooting and more compact growth. Light is no longer the restricting factor in growing as now the plant can receive the exact light level that it needs.”

 

“We have designed our GreenPower LED toplighting product to meet the stringent requirements of Underwriters Laboratories and CSA, and have submitted them for certification with these authorities,” says Ron DeKok, Philips Horticulture LED North America Business Development Director. “Growers across the globe are increasingly turning to LED lighting systems to extend their growing season, improve plant quality, and reduce energy. The introduction of our new toplight range will pave the way for growers in the US and Canada to push their greenhouse operations to the next level with the most innovative LED lighting technologies,” added DeKok.

Leo van der Harg BV in Vierpolders, the Netherlands, produces 5 million pot roses every year. They recently installed a hybrid lighting system with 1000 W HPS and LED toplighting to attain greater control over growing conditions and make production more cost-effective and sustainable. Manager Leo van der Harg says, “This combination makes it easier to control the growing conditions. Because LEDs hardly generate any radiation heat, it is possible to control the temperature and lighting separately.” 

Walters Gardens in Zeeland, Michigan, USA, which ships more than 18 million perennial liners annually, has been comparing plant performance under the LED toplighting versus HPS fixtures. Troy Shumaker, Chief Financial Officer, Walters Gardens says, “With Philips LED fixtures we have experienced greatly reduced crop times with an increase in overall plant quality while using less energy.” Finishing times for dianthus and hibiscus were reduced by as much as 10-14 days. Other results included better survival percentage and consistent growth of plants throughout the plug tray, as well as faster and better rooting with compact plant growth for specific cultivars. 

High wire crops, such as cucumbers and tomatoes, can be produced year-round with 100 % LED lighting. The GreenQ/Improvement Center in the Netherlands is on track achieving a high yield of 95 kg/m2 with their Komeett tomato variety in last year’s trials. The Warsaw University of Sciences (SGGW) in Poland compared crops grown under HPS versus 100% LED with the same light sums in mol/m2. This resulted in a 23% higher production of a winter cucumber crop grown under 100% LED lighting, and a 14% reduction in water usage per kilogram.

In many regions, the maximum light levels that can be reached with HPS when growing lettuce for example, are limited by the number of lighting hours, because the plants need long nights to prevent tip burn. In our test at PSKW (Research Station for Vegetable Production) in Belgium we were able to get the same or better quality of crops (compact heads and no tip burn) compared to HPS. Red coloration of Oak leaf and Lollo Rosso was also greatly improved using LEDs.

Since different crops require different light/temperature situations (alongside other climatic conditions) for optimal growth, Philips has also invented specific light recipes for specific crops to help growers further enhance their crop results. A recipe combines the following elements: light spectrum, intensity, illumination moment, uniformity, and positioning. Using a recipe, a grower can steer specific plant characteristics, from compactness, color intensity, and branch development to flowering and more to improve results. Philips light recipe knowledge has been developed over many years of cooperation with growers, university, and research sites to enhance growth. Results from growers using Philips light recipes can be found here: www.philips.com/horti