I want to start an indoor grow real soon, I will use rockwool as a growing medium from start to finish, but I haven’t decided on what light to use. I really need your expertise in making a good choice, so, please help
I want to cover a 2 square meter area1x2m (3.3 ft x 6.6 ft), using a light mover.
I was thinking about building a frame and spreading 9 or 12 50w COB led growlight chip, full spectrum sunlight, on individual heatsinks with fans, on a sourface close to a square meter, and having that “light” moved around by the light mover.
Has anybody used or does anybody use this kind of lighting solution?
the light mover makes your question .. it will work better with a 120 deg. lens. the light mover only if you already have it?! the lens will throw the light with enough head space over the plant. lens allow distance from the light do be increased without efficacy lost(more space).
I measured those types of LEDs a couple of years ago with a quantum sensor. Watt per watt they deliver about a third of the light delivered by a panel with Citizen 1212s.
With regard to the light mover i don't know how it will work. Physics laws of conservation of energy and mass says that you can't get more output than your input. Let's say your light have a radiation output of 200W/m², if you move the light half the time over one sq meter and the other half of the time over the other sq meter you are going to have an average of 100w/m². Simple as that.
About lenses mostly is the same, these have a loss, you only going to have a different light distribution using different angles but always remember that you can't get more from less.
I measured those types of LEDs a couple of years ago with a quantum sensor. Watt per watt they deliver about a third of the light delivered by a panel with Citizen 1212s. View attachment 1084155
With regard to the light mover i don't know how it will work. Physics laws of conservation of energy and mass says that you can't get more output than your input. Let's say your light have a radiation output of 200W/m², if you move the light half the time over one sq meter and the other half of the time over the other sq meter you are going to have an average of 100w/m². Simple as that.
About lenses mostly is the same, these have a loss, you only going to have a different light distribution using different angles but always remember that you can't get more from less.
lenses give range to your lights, the angle of the lens changes the size of the light cone without large wavelength deviation. the light mover would allow the light to cover more square footage because of the lenses larger area under the light cone.
The only difference between the 2 is the distance you run them from the plants. and the angle of the lens if you run 90 lens @18" high you could run 120 @9" covers same sq ft @Different PAR with the same 30 watt cob for example.
draw a circle on the floor with 1 light on @ the intensity required without the lens. add the lens it does not matter what the angle of the lens is at this point. i.e. 60 90 120... raise the light until intensity starts to drop. draw a new circle that's the range of the lens ( the working height of the light for that intensity) the amount you raised the light is the minim distance above the canopy for that angle.