POSSIBLE ENERGY SAVINGS WITH LED LIGHTING FOR GROWING PLANTS

More and more plants are grown in greenhouses where additional lighting system are used. Usually special high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps are used. Although very efficient considering vision, their spectrum is not optimal for plants which need only part of the visible light spectrum for growth. A special lamp (luminaire) was constructed from light emitting diodes (LEDs) which provides the same amount of light at needed wavelengths but with a lower energy consumption as HPS lamp. The luminaire was tested in a green house and results were compared with results obtained with special HPS lamp for greenhouses. As test results showed, the LEDs can successfully be used in greenhouses. Comparison with HPS lamp revealed that better results can be achieved with lower consumption of electric energy which means also chipper food products. The only problem at the moment is rather high price of LEDs.