Daisy in a greenhouse lit by two kinds of lighting

Added on 16 December 2021

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Daisy in a greenhouse lit by two kinds of lighting

Dutch grower of gerberas continues to add LEDs to the HPS mix. A Dutch daisy grower has taken the next step on a multi-year transition to largely LED lighting, replacing half of the high-pressure sodium (HPS) lights in a 1.1-hectare section of its greenhouse with LEDs that provide twice as much light using the same electricity consumption.

Florein Gerbera's now has hybrid LED/HPS lighting over 60% of its 3.5-ha greenhouse in Naaldwijk, having also switched from HPS to LED/HPS over a 1-ha portion in 2019. In the final stage, it plans to eventually install all LED lighting in the remaining 1.4 hectares.

Florein focuses on the Russian market for the gerbera variety of daisies. It grows 38 different types of gerberas.

In the latest lighting conversion, Dutch installer Stolze Installatie Techniek last October took two weeks to replace half of the HPS lights over the 1.1-ha parcel with Signify's Philips LED GreenPower toplights, which are designed with connections that facilitate a one-to-one swap. The full name of the product is Philips LED GreenPower toplighting force. Signify introduced it earlier this year, claiming a maximum light output of 3600 ?mol/s.

"That is twice as much as an HPS, while using the same amount of energy," pointed out Reinier Zuidgeest, owner and director of Florein Gerbera's.

Signify rates the toplights with an efficiency of 3.7 ?mol/J at full blast, and of 3.9 ?mol/J efficiency when dimmed to 50%.

The parties did not reveal how many lights cover the area, or how much money Signify charged the grower. Zuidgeest said that total light level over the 1.1 hectares is now 270 ľmol/m²/s, up from 180 ľmol/m²/s when the lights were all HPS.

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