Bsports

In 2018, the demand for semiconductor lighting applications in the market can be described as sunrise in the east and rain in the west. Traditional alternative markets such as UV LED and ultraviolet lighting are accelerating their penetration, and emerging niche markets such as plant lighting have become market hotspots. We will focus on seven key development areas, including energy-saving light sources, three-dimensional soilless cultivation, light temperature coupling energy-saving environmental control, nutrient solution regulation, network-based intelligent management, integrated demonstration of artificial light plant factories, and natural light plant factories

As a key development area of 'LED energy-saving light source', our UV LED plays a crucial role and has a broad prospect in the factory field. The production efficiency is directly related to the quality of lighting conditions, so the saturation of lighting depends on the severity of the impact. Similarly, the speed of growth is directly related to weather affecting lighting. There are many advantages in the concept: high production efficiency, good controllability, and broad application prospects. The artificial use of electric light sources in plant factories to extend and supplement the insufficient sunlight for plants, providing the necessary light. Through the application of technologies and equipment such as soilless cultivation, special nutrient solutions, ventilation, and constant temperature and humidity, it is undoubtedly an efficient, harmless, and high-tech agricultural model.

The contribution of different spectra of sunlight to plant photosynthesis varies, with only light in the range of 400-700nm being the effective radiation for plant photosynthesis and the process of carbohydrate synthesis in plants. According to the distinction between visible light and invisible light, invisible light contains a wavelength band less than 380nm, which is called 'ultraviolet light' (UV) and provides effective radiation to plants. UV and far-infrared light have regulatory functions on plant growth and development, and have important application value for agricultural production.

The UV radiation of plants in traditional agricultural factories is also affected by the UV radiation components and extremely uneven distribution of light contained in traditional fill light fixtures, as well as the precise application of ultraviolet (UV) light to affect plant growth. At present, traditional agricultural planting or artificial cultivation mainly uses fluorescent lamps, mercury lamps, high-pressure sodium lamps and other lighting fixtures that only combine red and blue light sources emitted by LEDs as the main spectrum, and clearly lack the components of ultraviolet spectrum.

Due to the lack of ultraviolet light in the facility, serious growth and quality problems have arisen in plants. There is an urgent need for optimized and efficient spectral composition technology for supplementary lighting. LED, as an energy-saving, controllable, adjustable, and efficient new application light source, continues to make breakthroughs in core technology and extend its application technology. The utilization and regulation of ultraviolet light in plant factories are crucial for ensuring high quality and yield. The application of artificial control of ultraviolet (UV) light sources to supplement UV radiation technology can reduce chemical methods that lead to excessive plant growth and improve plant quality, which is an important guarantee for producing green organic food.

The main application goals are to control plant overgrowth and improve crop quality, such as increasing the content of antioxidants in vegetables, increasing the accumulation of secondary metabolites in medicinal crops, and accelerating the synthesis and accumulation of chromogenic substances in flower leaves and petals. In order to control the effectiveness of ultraviolet (UV) light, the amount of UV radiation must be well controlled, such as using short-term low-dose, intermittent repeated irradiation, and short-term pre harvest irradiation to use the dose reasonably.

Therefore, the emergence of UV LED and its large-scale application in artificial lighting of various plants in the field of agricultural lighting, with outstanding advantages such as energy saving and environmental protection, cold light source, long service life, small size, pure light quality, high light efficiency, rich wavelength types, easy spectral energy recombination, and convenient modulation, will undoubtedly help the new round of plant factory models to more reasonably utilize light sources and wavelength bands to meet the different light needs of different plants.