Even More Light From One Small Fixture

Oreon | oreon-led.com

IJSSELSTEIN, Netherlands, Feb. 5, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – The development of LED lighting for greenhouse horticulture is constantly developing. The Dutch Powerhouse Monarch from Oreon was introduced one year ago at Fruit Logistica in Berlin with a light output of 3,100 µmol/s. The fixture now achieves an output of 3,700 µmol/s with the LowBlue spectrum with 3.7 µmol/J efficiency. That is twice as much as with a traditional High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) lamp.

“More than 12 years ago we were the first to provide a commercial greenhouse project with water-cooled LED lights,” Oreon Sales Director Jan Mol said. “Last year, we launched the first 1,000W LED fixture. Oreon is constantly innovating and is always looking for new ways to improve the fixture and we have succeeded again. Thanks to the water-cooling technology, we cannot only get an extremely high light output, but we also guarantee a consistent light output over a longer period of time. Our LED fixtures have a long lifespan: L90 B05 - 50,000 hours, which means that a water-cooled LED fixture can retain more than 90% of its light output in at least 95% of the fixtures after 50,000 hours.”

Mol added: “Every greenhouse, every grower, every cultivation strategy and light requirement is different. In addition, the crop, grow area and height of the greenhouse influence the number of fixtures and thus the investment. You cannot make one standard lighting plan; everything is custom made. That is why we can now offer three variants of the Monarch.”

For crops that require high light intensities, such as roses and cannabis, the new high efficiency variant with 3,700 µmol/s is extremely suitable. This has a narrow beam radiation of 120° and can therefore also be used in high-tech greenhouses, for lettuce as example. Thanks to the high light output, fewer fixtures are needed and, due to the very high efficiency, significant savings can be made on energy costs.

No two situations are the same. That is why there is now also a narrow-beam version with a lower output (3,471 µmol/s) and efficiency (3.4 µmol/J). We look at the best option by means of a tailor-made lighting plan. The grower can decide whether he or she is going for a lower one-off investment or a saving in energy costs in the longer term.

The Monarch with wide-beam optics (3,506 µmol/s and 3.5 µmol/J) is suitable for the illumination of high-wire crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers. The crop grows closer to the top of the greenhouse and therefore a wide radiation (140°) is desired in order to evenly illuminate the largest surface as possible. This Monarch is also a good option for traditional lower greenhouses. Since it is a 1,000W LED fixture, traditional HPS lighting can be replaced one-on-one (using the same cabling). For the grower, this results in more light on his crop or lower power consumption with the same light intensity.