Economic Analysis Of Greenhouse Lighting: Led Vs. Hid Fixtures

[Homesteader]

I was doing some estimating just this morning. Many parts are super expensive to build a single 520W light.

Here is a fairly inexpensive alternative to that pricy build IMO.

The emitters Osram SSL80 in 3500 k run about $1-2 a piece on mouser depending on the output/color, the MPCB (Metal printed circuit board) is about $3 each through Adura/Sinkpad (less when you buy more). I can fit three of these MCPCBs on a 140mm round heatsink ($20 from Rapid) and fire six on a $65 Mean Well driver.

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[Crysmatic]

The photo red is actually much more efficient than whites for ppf (more but lower energy photons). This is their easy cheat to bump ppf/w but not ideal for plants. 10x 4000K + 2x 635nm per pcb give a ~1.0% peak at 635nm; right in the meat of the mccree's action spectrum. About 11% more ppf/w than straight 3500K.

second, eight pcb use 276.5W; well short of the driver's 320W capacity. Using nine pcb is a better use of the driver, and brings total output to 622W...a more realistic gavita substitute.

18 sinkpads fit very nicely on a 12" x 16" heat sink. heatsink usa sells it for $80, and it has 86.6" perimeter, which is very good.

the 14130 ledil optics has a 59deg spread...and you have to hang the lights super high. ledil has a 95deg lens for the XP-G3 CS14263_HB-IP-2X6-WWW (but you lose 9% light). Naked LED are 125deg.

my .02

 

[Crysmatic]

I have to correct myself again. per his site, the latest PLC6 is ~10% more efficient than Gavitas 600 (i.e. 1100 umol/s with 50W less). You'd need TWO plc6 to equal one Gavita 1000DE at 2100 umol. That's 1182W of COB LED to equal 1064W of HPS (consumed). The hypothetical 662W light above might equal a hortilux eye 1kW HPS.

long story short: LED can't make a business case against HPS DE lights. They'd break even at 5 year intervals, but spectrum king says 90% lumen maintenance for their SK600 at 3 years. Lower energy consumption doesn't make up for initial cost and lost yield (in the second and third year). I might have to sell my COB and play with a 750W DE in a 4x4.

 

[CallmeTex]

I have to correct myself again. per his site, the latest PLC6 is ~10% more efficient than Gavitas 600 (i.e. 1100 umol/s with 50W less). You'd need TWO plc6 to equal one Gavita 1000DE at 2100 umol. That's 1182W of COB LED to equal 1064W of HPS (consumed). The hypothetical 662W light above might equal a hortilux eye 1kW HPS.

long story short: LED can't make a business case against HPS DE lights. They'd break even at 5 year intervals, but spectrum king says 90% lumen maintenance for their SK600 at 3 years. Lower energy consumption doesn't make up for initial cost and lost yield (in the second and third year). I might have to sell my COB and play with a 750W DE in a 4x4.

An interesting point. But doesn't add up as far as the 750 watt DE. I ran Gavita's 600/750 flex for a year and have now ran Cree CXB's for a year and the results have been far better with cxb's. Higher yield overall and per watt. Gavita's IMO should stay in the greenhouse. Most certainly not in a tent, unless in a sealed vented reflector. Just trying to save you a headache.