The integration of technology into every aspect of life is rapidly increasing for many reasons, with smart cities (such as CTIA and other initiatives) and smart factories (Industry 4.0) serving as prominent examples of this integration. A less well-known area for technological advancement is farming. However, smart farms or smart agriculture efforts in Agriculture 5.0 highlight how the technological revolution is also addressing the need for greater efficiency, sustainability, and resilience against environmental changes in farming. In addition to artificial intelligence (AI), smart sensing, automation including robotics, and connectivity through the Internet of Things (IoT), advanced LED horticulture lighting plays a crucial role in the technologies needed to transform our food supply and provide a comprehensive solution.
The problem(s) in farming
Global food production has historically been characterized by regions where sufficient food could be grown to meet local needs and areas where annual crops were sometimes, or frequently, insufficient to feed the entire population. These situations persist today and, without proper attention, could worsen due to various challenges facing modern society. These challenges include: (1) a significantly increasing population, (2) reductions in the amount of usable farmland, (3) concerns about shipping food products over long distances due to the need to reduce carbon emissions and prevent spoilage, among others.
Unlike previous generations, we now have an increasing number of advanced technologies to address modern food challenges, categorized under umbrella terms such as smart farming, smart agriculture, and Agriculture 5.0. Agriculture 5.0 encompasses the use of technologies like artificial intelligence, smart sensors, robotics, IoT connectivity, and more to tackle these issues.
Controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) is a key component of Agriculture 5.0, aiming to transform agriculture by creating fully controlled environments for plant growth. These environments utilize hydroponic (grown in water) and aeroponic (grown with air-exposed roots) methods within controlled structures such as greenhouses, vertical farms, and growth chambers. An essential aspect of CEA is controlled and targeted lighting. This lighting, which does not rely on sunlight, provides optimal growing conditions for each crop, allowing them to grow out-of-season or in climates different from the location of the controlled structure.
Since CEA farms can be established anywhere, they can be situated much closer to consumers than most traditional farms. This proximity results in reduced transportation effort, cost, and time, enabling food to arrive fresher and with less waste during transit. One company claims that using CEA farms results in 94% less food waste compared to traditional farming methods.
The horticulture lighting solution
With input collected and shared from Agriculture 5.0 technologies, data is analyzed and used to optimize various processes, such as crop selection, irrigation, and fertilization. Horticulture lighting plays a crucial role in these processes. Three key aspects of horticulture lighting include: (1) enhanced photosynthesis through optimal spectra, (2) year-round crop production and extended growing seasons, and (3) improved crop quality and yield with reduced pesticide use.
For CEA and other lighting applications, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) offer higher efficiency and greater versatility than previously used metal-halide, fluorescent, high-pressure sodium (HPS), or neon lamps. This results in more usable light energy for plants with a given power load and less heat generation. Additionally, lighting can be customized and optimized to meet the specific needs of different plant types, providing growers with cost reduction options for water, fertilizers, and pesticides. Some CEA greenhouses report using 99% less land and 98% less water compared to conventional growing practices.
Controlled-environment agriculture simplifies keeping contaminants out of crops, ensuring a safer food supply. Additionally, with food grown by CEA in harsh climates or highly unpredictable weather conditions, crops are protected from dangerous storms and floods, addressing another food supply issue in an ever-changing world.
© RED Horticulture
Implementing advanced horticulture lighting
LED lighting technology designed specifically for horticultural applications offers significant improvements over previous methods. Unlike traditional lighting designed for human vision, advanced horticulture lighting systems require application-tuned spectral content, high efficacy, and long lifespans. To meet these requirements and integrate seamlessly with smart farming systems, Cree LED's Photophyll™ Select LEDs provide a breakthrough approach by fully characterizing products with horticulture-specific metrics. These metrics include photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) and red PPF %, rather than traditional lighting metrics like correlated color temperature (CCT) and color rendering index (CRI).
Using a new phosphor-converted LED color with blue and green spectral output specifically tuned for horticultural applications, these LEDs are the first to offer an advanced spectrum that allows precise control over the green/blue ratio (GBR). Green wavelengths (500-600 nm) are optimized and available in three nominal GBR targets. Red values have been reduced to a typical 20% Red PPF. The minimized red content in Photophyll Select LEDs allows for maximum contribution from efficient 660 nm Photo Red LEDs, improving system PPF and PPF/W by 6% compared to White + Red designs. This provides advanced spectrum and performance capabilities for horticultural applications. Designed to replace the white LEDs commonly used in two-channel White + Red horticulture luminaires, Photophyll Select LEDs can be paired with XLamp® XP-L Photo Red S Line LEDs, which are optimized for high-performance applications in greenhouses, vertical farms, and other large-scale growing operations.
A reference design utilizing 2 LED Channels that consist of Photophyll Select + 660 nm Photo Red LEDs, demonstrates better performance (up to 6% efficacy improvement) and 33% lower LED count (for reduced system cost). At the same time, this design maintains the same GBR and red % at the same input power. The higher performance of Photophyll Select LEDs means that luminaire designers can either improve performance or reduce costs.
Designers of horticulture applications can expect continued improvements in the overall photosynthetic photon efficacy (PPE) of horticulture LEDs. Currently, horticulture LEDs operate within a 50-80% efficiency range, indicating potential for further efficiency enhancements.
Customized LED lens shapes represent another area for development, allowing for adjustments to target and customer-specific applications with varying light emission patterns. If light output shaping can be achieved at the LED component level, it could lead to increased overall luminaire efficiency and reduced luminaire costs.
For horticulture luminaire system designers, utilizing Photophyll Select LEDs translates to improved energy efficiency, customizable spectrums, reduced costs, and lower heat output—ultimately resulting in significant advancements in crop growth within Agriculture 5.0.
Source: LED Inside