The current epidemic engulfing most countries around the globe has underscored the fragility of our world and shed light on the most pressing issues facing humanity, with food security in the top echelon of priorities. Experts argue that vertical farms are the solution of tomorrow when it comes to ensuring an adequate quantity and quality of produce worldwide.
Budapest-based Tungsram is supporting the vision of a world with food security by putting its century-long lighting technology expertise to use and developing a range of vertical farm lightbars tailored to individual needs. "Technological advances have allowed humans to put a man on the Moon, perform previously unimaginable medical interventions and grow plants without the help of natural light. Precision indoor farming, or more precisely vertical farms, can turn the most arid deserts on the globe into lush vegetable growing areas. The secret lies in professional lighting technologies and the development of LED lightbars that create the most optimal light conditions for the crop."
Established at the end of the 19th century, Tungsram is a European brand in the lighting industry. The company’s Agritech division set up in 2018, relies on decades of accumulated expertise in offering world-class LED and smart solutions for growers and farmers to use in precision indoor farming. "With features like light intensity and spectrum control, lightbar modularity allowing users to set the optimal illumination for the different phenophases and pre-harvest treatments, our solutions help achieve the targeted crop growth", the team explains.
Modularity, flexibility, singular expertise
The arguments in favor of using LED luminaries as opposed to traditional lamps are numerous, including high luminous efficiency, predefined spectral light output, controllable light intensity, reduced energy consumption, effective heat management, uniform illumination and durability.
“Our LED Vertical Farm Lightbar solutions were designed with the aim of boosting the quality and quantity of the crop while using considerably less resources, an aspect that is increasingly important in this era characterized by a scarcity of resources,” said Anita Zelnik, Product Manager at Tungsram Agritech.
The main consideration when developing these products was to allow users to control light and temperature independently of each other, the manager added. The LED lightbar, which is also available in dimmable version, offers passive cooling and comes equipped with a remote driver that ensures more efficient climate control.
"Our fix-spectrum lightbar, touted as the most cost-effective product in our portfolio, is produced with a predefined fix spectrum that is adjustable to customer needs."
The experts at Tungsram can provide advice as to the most optimal spectrums needed by various plants. This Vertical Farm Lightbar is a flexible modular design, the length of the bar is customizable and the extremely light weight means the device is very easy to mount.
The 4-channel lightbar developed by the experts of the Agritech division is a more complex solution for advanced indoor farming production. It offers a variable mix of wavelength within the 400-750nm range and controllable light intensity. These features ensure better results in the individual development stages of a particular crop, Anita Zelnik stressed. "The remotely operated control system allows farmers to manage growing recipes in real time with the help of pre-defined programs and timed dimming, as well as group control over many shelf systems."
The lightbar is fully dimmable, thus ensuring versatile spectral variants and a wide range of PPF density. “This product provides farmers the opportunity to experiment and optimize the yield or specific nutrient levels in their crop by adjusting the light settings,” Anita Zelnik noted. Finally, the 6- to 8-channel research module provides all-around spectral variations to fine-tune light settings for optimal production in plant factories. Used primarily for R&D purposes, the module is equipped with pure color LED chips, which guarantee unlimited variations in terms of colors.
The software developed by Tungsram supports data collection and analysis by research institutes and universities. “Our colleagues can adjust the variables of these products to specific customer needs. As proof of Tungsram’s outstanding flexibility, we can essentially produce application specific lightbars for each individual lighting design,” the product manager concluded.
For more information:
Tungsram
agritech.tungsram.com
Anita Zelnik – Product Manager
anita.zelnik@tungsram.com
Keith Thomas - Commercial Leader
keith.thomas2@tungsram.com