Analysis Of The Development Of The Global Plant Lighting Industry In 2020

Over the years, the various subdivisions of the lighting industry have become closer to the production and life of the general public. As the "human granary" in the lighting segment, the development of the plant lighting industry has given strong vitality to the construction of people's livelihoods all over the world. In the past 2020, although the new crown epidemic is ruthlessly raging around the world, plant lighting still has a prosperous development trend under the special environment of this year.

Below, China Lighting Network analyzes the development of the global plant lighting industry in 2020 from various aspects such as technical standards, enterprise dynamics, and application trends, and provides valuable experience for lighting professionals who set foot in this industry.

Continuous improvement of technical standards

As the global climate continues to change, market demand for exquisite crop cultivation, storage and preservation of fruits and vegetables, and food safety will increase in 2020. In addition, under the influence of multiple factors such as the food crisis triggered by the global epidemic, it will rely on increasing crop growth speed and saving energy. Save water resources and other advantages, plant lighting continues to expand its scope of application in different fields of planting industry. However, under extremely high expectations, as of the beginning of 2020, many plant lighting-related technical standards have still failed to meet the rapid development needs of this industry.

In January 2020, a study by Rutgers University in the State of New Jersey in the United States showed that although LED lighting can enhance plant growth in greenhouses, standards still need to be established to determine the best light intensity and color to help improve horticulture Energy efficiency of lighting products. Researchers of the study said that the latest developments in LED technology provide a variety of lighting options for the gardening industry, but due to the lack of independent data on the performance of the lights, growers cannot easily compare lighting technologies and LED light source options. For this reason, researchers have proposed standardizing product labels so that lamps and lanterns between manufacturers can be compared.

Under such an industry situation, in order to speed up the standardization process of various important technologies of plant lighting, authoritative lighting industry organizations in many countries and regions around the world have taken action in 2020.

In September, the United States DLC released the official version of the plant light V2.0 standard, which updated part of the previous plant light V1.2 standard. On the basis of keeping the requirement of PPE≥1.9μmol/J of V1.2 version unchanged, DLC has added two optional report parameters of 280-800nm photon flux parameter and efficiency parameter. Radiation in this range It is usually related to the growth and development effects of plants. At the same time, the new standard also updates the same LEDs, the electrical, optical, and heat dissipation structures must be the same, different drivers can be included, and different mounting brackets can be included without affecting heat dissipation.

In November, the "Technical Specification for Quality Evaluation of Greenhouse Plant Supplementary Lamps" formulated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China was formally implemented, which standardized the performance indicators and detection methods for the quality evaluation of greenhouse plant supplementary lamps.

In terms of performance, the standard sets clear requirements on the three major performance indicators of plant supplementary light products-electrical characteristics, optical characteristics, and lifespan. In terms of electrical characteristics, the standard specifies that the initial power value should be 90% to 100% of the rated power; the specified power factor is ≥ 0.90; in terms of optical characteristics, the standard specifies performance requirements such as photosynthetic photon flux and photon flux efficiency. The regulations require that the initial value of the PPF of the plant supplement light should not be lower than 90% of the nominal value, the PPE of the high-pressure sodium lamp should not be lower than 1.0 μmol/(s·W), and the PPE of the LED lamp should not be lower than 1.5. μmol/(s·W).

The standard also requires that the estimated or measured life of the plant supplementary lamp based on the maintenance rate of photon flux should not be less than 90% of the rated (nominal) life, and stipulates that the estimated or measured photon flux maintenance rate of the high-pressure sodium lamp is not less than 20,000h 70%, the LED lamp’s estimated or measured 30000h photon flux maintenance rate is not less than 70%. In addition, the standard specifies corresponding detection and calculation methods for different performance indicators.

With the release and implementation of more technical standards, various technical gaps in the plant lighting market around the world will be filled, so that more users can have a basis in the procurement of plant lighting products, and promote a healthier global plant lighting industry.

Strong corporate actions continue

With the continuous improvement of various technical standards, in 2020, many powerful lighting companies around the world will bring more product technological value to plant lighting users through technological innovation, equity investment, and strategic cooperation.

Osram's new generation of Oslon Square Hyper Red high-efficiency plant lighting LED

In January, Osram launched a new generation of Oslon Square Hyper Red high-efficiency plant lighting LEDs. The customized lighting solutions created through this product not only help growers produce fresh food without pesticides in small spaces, but also allow living in Consumers in cities have faster access to fresh and healthy food.

In March, Signify announced further cooperation with Planet Farms, an Italian vertical farm operator, to provide Philips GrowWise control systems with Philips Greenpower LED production modules to help the operator’s vertical farms achieve crop quality and yield improvement. Provide delicious aromatic herbs and lettuce to its Italian customers throughout the year.

In the same month, based on the optimistic outlook of the global indoor cultivation, especially the indoor cultivation of industrial hemp, Inventronics announced that it intends to subscribe to the US plant lighting product supplier AGRIFY CORPORATION, INC (hereinafter referred to as "Agrify Company") for the new issue of 40,000 shares of A-series convertible preferred stocks, in order to further expand its niche market in the field of plant lighting applications in the field of LED drive power supplies, and continue to enhance its own profitability.

In May, Zhongke San'an announced that it had signed a cooperation agreement with Houde Agricultural Technology to open a "plant factory" in Qatar. By providing localized indoor vertical agricultural technology services, it promotes the industrialization of local agriculture and reconstructs the value chain of the local agricultural industry. Play a positive impact.

In September, Swedish horticultural lighting technology supplier Heliospectra announced that it had won an order for the vertical farm project from BBL Construction, a general contractor in the commercial construction field. In this project, the two parties will make full use of their respective professional knowledge, adopt LED plant growth lights and intelligent cultivation systems to increase the food production of urban agriculture in order to deal with food security issues caused by the global new crown epidemic.

In the same month, Fluence, a plant lighting company under Osram, announced a cooperation with The Lamphouse, the largest professional lighting supplier in Africa, to provide The Lamphouse with LED horticultural lighting solutions. Through cooperation with The Lamphous, Fluence's LED lighting solutions have been applied to pre-licensed and licensed cannabis greenhouses and indoor farms across South Africa.

In October, Siasun Corporation and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences signed a strategic cooperation agreement on the joint development of a new plant factory model. After the signing of the agreement, the two parties will use their respective superior resources to cooperate in-depth exchanges on overall plant factory solutions and intelligent auxiliary planting equipment to create a complete and rich plant factory product system to meet the needs of the global plant supply market.

In November, Signify announced that it will provide Philips LED plant lighting products for the GoodLeaf community farm in Canada to increase farm output and enhance the taste and nutrient content of crops.

In addition, Cree, Everlight Electronics, Hongli Zhihui, National Star Optoelectronics, Xuyu Optoelectronics and other companies are deploying plant lighting through different development strategies. The continuous growth of the corporate matrix has made the development prospects of the plant lighting industry more and more broad.

Application models emerge endlessly

With the continuous improvement of technical standards and the continuous innovation of corporate development strategies, many plant lighting technology achievements have been implemented in many agricultural and planting construction projects around the world in recent years, creating diversified livelihood values. In 2020, among various landing projects of plant lighting, plant factories and vertical farms have become hot application areas of technological innovation.

In June, American scientist Jacob Torres shared the results of his space plant factory in a webinar. In the "Space Crop Production Laboratory" of the Kennedy Space Center, the scientist’s scientific research team uses the "Advanced Plant Habitat (APH)" to support LED light libraries of various frequencies. Adjust various power, and even the color of ultraviolet (UV) to create the illumination light source required by various crops, and cultivate crops including tomatoes and peppers.

While illuminating the light source, the "hyperspectral imager" monitors the health of crops at the same time, carefully monitoring important parameters such as air, soil, and temperature, so that APH can adjust the intensity of the LED lamp library.

In the same month, Jersey City, the U.S. vertical farm supplier AeroFarms and the World Economic Forum jointly launched a municipal vertical farm project. In this project, AeroFarms uses patented planting technology, according to the growth needs of different crops, using LED lighting fixtures with specific spectrum and light intensity to illuminate, providing Jersey city residents with thousands of pounds of native-grown nutritious food, helping to reduce local hunger Gap, and have a positive impact on the overall health of community residents.

In September, the Yuntian Plant Factory in Guangxin District, Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province, China used LED spectroscopy technology to formulate an exclusive "light formula" for Anoectochilus, and intelligently controlled temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, and nutrient solution through a computer. Overcome the dependence of Anoectochilus on natural conditions such as production season and climate, and realize normal growth.

Through the exclusive "light formula", the plant factory can produce 800,000 bottles of Chinese herbal medicine tissue culture bottle seedlings per year, with an output value of 150 million yuan, and gradually build itself into a medicine that integrates scientific research, production, and incubation functions. Use industry demonstration base.

In the same month, the Korea Rural Development Institute developed a new generation of all-weather plant factories through technological improvement, and planned to be sent to the Antarctic base by the Korean Cruiser Icebreaking Scientific Research Team.

The plant factory can provide suitable temperature and light conditions through lighting, and has a remote control function to provide fresh fruits and vegetables nearby for the Antarctic scientific research base personnel.

In November, the Yuzhuang New Agro-source Plant Factory, Luzhou District, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, China adopted non-sunlight LED artificial light sources, combined with soil-free nutrient solution cultivation technology, so that the growth period of vegetables was greatly shortened compared with the natural state, and the average benefit per mu was increased several times. Achieve about 600 kilograms of vegetables every day to enter the table of the people in Changzhi City.

While artificial lighting technology is widely used in plant factories and vertical farms, small-scale indoor planting has also become a new category of plant lighting promotion.

In February 2020, the American indoor grower 80 Acres Farms used LED plant lighting technology to grow tomatoes outside the Guggenheim Museum, one of the busiest streets in New York, to show the audience how to use it on a small indoor farm. Fewer natural resources produce fresh, nutritious and pesticide-free fruits and vegetables, allowing the public to benefit from such technical exhibitions and exchanges.

If you want to learn more about LED plant grow light, please do not hesitate to contact us.