The greenhouse horticulture industry is undeniably a development in which growers are switching from HPS lighting to hybrid or full-LED lighting systems. This means that fixtures have to be replaced. And the installation of new fixtures also involves adjustment of the electrical installation.
However, neither the changes to an installation nor the investment has to be large. Isolectra has developed an efficient and simple pluggable solution to accommodate growers and installers. “It makes the threshold for switching to other lighting lower,” says horticultural specialist Erik van Wijland.
All Isolectra RST® products are IP66, IP67 or IP68 certified. This means that they can withstand the challenging conditions in the greenhouse
Easy
Isolectra has devised the RST Y-Adapter in collaboration with Wieland Electric. This pluggable solution means that the grower barely needs to adjust their existing installation. “Everyone can easily connect the cables by connecting the plugs,” Erik summarises briefly.
Now that sounds very simple, of course, but it actually is. “A grower switching from HPS to hybrid lighting, for example, removes 1 HPS fixture and adds 2 LED fixtures. With our RST Y adapter, that is now a matter of 1 plug out and 2 plugs in.”
Plug and play
The phenomenon of pluggable electrical installation is not new. In greenhouse horticulture, Isolectra started working on this more than twenty years ago together with lighting manufacturers. The result was a pluggable round alternative to the hitherto customary waterproof connectors. And now there are all kinds of pluggable solutions on the market, also outside of greenhouse horticulture. "This makes installation plug and play." This saves a lot of time and prevents incorrect connections. “We see that it saves 80% time compared to conventional installation. Especially when installing in several hectares of greenhouses, that adds up considerably. ”
Erik sees that the pluggable applications are now also used in the greenhouse, for example in ventilation systems and installations for screen installations. Here, too, the ease of installation helps. “It means that companies can work much more flexibly in both production and at the project location and are less dependent on technically trained personnel. They are not always easy to find and so this is a solution to this issue.”
Colours
In addition to considerable time savings during installation by the grower themselves or the installer, there are also safety and environmental benefits to the pluggable solutions from Isolectra. “Because everything is plug and play, nothing can actually go wrong. It is no longer necessary to bundle cables in junction boxes. Just like measuring, cutting and stripping, which also saves waste. Everything is tested in advance before it reaches the customer. Connecting a wire incorrectly is no longer possible. Moreover, the pluggable solutions only fit together in one way, in which we work with different colours.”
Speaking of colours, Erik sees that there is currently still a development going on. “In the past, lighting manufacturers all used their own (colour) coding for the connectors, mainly black connectors. When the customer now makes the transition to a different colour, we have a solution for this in the form of a converter. Here too, the installation does not have to be rigorously adjusted but can be continued on from the existing installation. ”
For more information:
Isolectra
www.weconnecthorti.nl
horti@isolectra.nl