Meeting the needs of a growing market with new LEDs for horticulture

Mouser now stocks the LUXEON SunPlus Series LEDs from Lumileds. These new LEDs, designed specifically for horticulture, are binned and tested based on photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) to ensure ease of system design for grow lights. The LEDs enable specific wavelength tuning for greenhouses, vertical farms, and other horticulture applications. Agriculture groups ranging from local growers to governmental agencies have started adopting energy-efficient lighting, water-saving cultivation methods, and other green technologies. These shifts in processes have enabled highly localised growth of fruits and vegetables within urban areas. For example, in Tokyo, many mid- and high-rise buildings dedicate entire floors to growing small crops for use in restaurants and cafeterias within the same building. The LEDs support indoor and greenhouse farming by delivering precise light wavelengths and optimised spectra that complement or replace natural sunlight for improved crop yields. The product addresses the needs of greenhouse farmers who want to add supplemental high-bay lighting to enable 24-hour or year-round growth. Designers can develop single-channel solutions using the key blue (420–480nm) and red (620–670nm) wavelengths for photosynthesis. Alternatively, designers can build multi-channel solutions using select LEDs to optimise light output for different stages of the plant’s life cycle, such as seedlings, germination, and flowering. The line is comprised of 2mm × 2mm high-power LEDs in royal blue (440–460nm), deep red (655–675nm), far red (720–750nm), lime (broad spectra), and cool white. The LEDs address the needs of vertical farming, which requires lighting from short distances with high uniformity. They offer blue (440–460nm), lime, white, and three shades of purple mid-power LEDs in a 3.5mm × 3.5mm format. The purple LEDs are offered with different blue PPF relative to the PPF total across the photoactive region (400–700nm). The purple (2.5% blue) LED encourages stem growth and flowering, while the purple (12.5% blue) LED encourages general growth, and the purple (25% blue) LED encourages vegetative growth for larger leaves.