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Single frequency growlight

 Waste less.
  (+2)
(+2) 		  [vote for,
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Many indoor growing operations rely on grow lights. These consume considerable energy. Much of the energy used to power the light is in frequencies that are not used for photosynthesis - rendering the greenhouse pleasantly bright, but not contributing to growth.

I propose that bright grow-LEDs be devised which pump all the energy into the red frequency used by chloroplasts. This would make greenhouses looks like photographic darkrooms. The leaves would look black, which is as it should be: reflected light is necessary for us to perceive color, and this light also reflects wasted electricity. Single spectrum LED growlights should markedly improve the energy efficiency of indoor growing operations.

—bungston, Aug 02 2008

LED Growlight supplier http://www.fuzzlight.com/
[MisterQED, Aug 02 2008]

The Action Spectrum for Photosynthesis http://www.phschool...tosynth/action.html
An animated "experiment". [baconbrain, Aug 02 2008]

Relative absorption for a bunch of chemicals. http://www.citrusco...u/pic/46/c06_06.jpg
Your plant may vary. [baconbrain, Aug 02 2008]

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       This is a good idea, nut not a new one. I will bun this anyway, till I can find proof, but I think the issue was either getting a LED to shine in the right frequency or that it wasn't a single frequency but a range.
—MisterQED, Aug 02 2008
   

       After a lurch around the internet, I now understand that chlorophyll isn't the only light-absorber, and that there are peaks in both blue and red light for the two types of chlorophyll, and other places for other chemicals (see links). So, a single frequency of red light is probably not the best thing for plants. Red and blue, if you want, as in the [MQED]'s link, or even more colors, depending on the plant.   

       I'm all for LED lights for efficiency, mind, even though plants only use about 10 percent of the energy that hits them. I have a pile of LED flashlights, and would love to see a LED growlight. Just not a red-only light. And the room will never look dark, no matter what you tweak--the plants just won't cooperate.
—baconbrain, Aug 02 2008
   

       I saw prototype LED growlamps many years ago at a space technology exhibition - this was before LED lighting had happened. They told me not to look directly at them if I turned them up, which of course I did having only seen low-power LEDs before. I had this LED matrix burned into my retina for hours.   

       I think choroplasts operate within a frequency range, rather than at a set frequency. In fact IIRC, plants have developed to prefer exactly the same spectrum as produced by the sun. Mimic that and that's the best you'll get.
—wagster, Aug 02 2008
   


 

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