An old assesment but how could the physics and real life situation be any different to this based on what we know about basic leaf temp so far;
The use of LED technology is commonly assumed to result in significantly cooler leaf temperatures than high pressure sodium technology. To evaluate the magnitude of this effect, we measured radiation incident to and absorbed by a leaf under four radiation sources: clear sky sunlight in the field, sunlight in a glass greenhouse, and indoor plants under either high pressure sodium or light emitting diodes. We then applied a common mechanistic energy-balance model to compare leaf to air temperature difference among the radiation sources and environments. At equal photosynthetic photon flux, our results indicate that the effect of plant water status and leaf evaporative cooling is much larger than the effect of radiation source. If plants are not water stressed, leaves in all four radiation sources were typically within 2°C of air temperature. Under clear sky conditions, cool sky temperatures mean that leaves in the field are always cooler than greenhouse or indoor plants-when photosynthetic photon flux, stomatal conductance, wind speed, vapor pressure deficit, and leaf size are equivalent. As water stress increases and cooling via transpiration decreases, leaf temperatures can increase well above air temperature. In a near-worst case scenario of water stress and low wind, our model indicates that leaves would increase 6°, 8°, 10°, and 12°C above air temperature under field, LED, greenhouse, and HPS scenarios, respectively. Because LED fixtures emit much of their heat through convection rather than radiative cooling, they result in slightly cooler leaf temperatures than leaves in greenhouses and under HPS fixtures, but the effect of LED technology on leaf temperature is smaller than is often assumed. Quantifying the thermodynamic outputs of these lamps, and their physiological consequences, will allow both researchers and the horticulture industry to make informed decisions when employing these technologies.
Introduction
Light emitting diodes (LEDs) have shown to be a disruptive technology in all areas of illumination. Large (>200 watt) LED fixtures have become commercially available for both sole source (growth chamber) and supplemental (greenhouse) plant lighting. At the same time, the more traditional high pressure sodium (HPS) technology has also improved in efficiency by as much as 60% [1]. Though the spectral effects of different light sources have been studied, there have been few studies on the thermodynamics of these new lighting systems. The thermal properties of fixtures are of consequence both for researchers, as differences in leaf temperature and transpiration can change experimental outcomes, and for the horticulture industry, as heating and cooling costs may be different under different sources and hot lamps may damage plant tissue.
The energy balance of leaves has long been studied in field conditions and a well-developed family of models is used to determine transpiration and leaf temperature over a wide range of environmental conditions, including controlled environments [2–5]. These models are well developed, and are used to predict values that are hard to measure directly, such as leaf temperature and evapotranspiration [6]. Models also provide the opportunity to compare individual parameters while keeping all other environmental conditions exactly the same. This facilitates comparison of radiation sources.
Although linearization of energy balance models, such as the Penman-Monteith equation, has been widely used, modern computing allows for more precise numerical solutions of leaf temperature. Widmoser [7] discusses the advantages of using numerical solutions.
A recent analysis showed that the conversion efficiency of electricity to photosynthetic photons of the most efficient commercial scale LED fixtures was equal to the most efficient HPS fixtures at 1.7 μmol photosynthetic photos per joule of electrical input [1]. They thus generate the same amount of thermal energy per photosynthetic photon. LED fixtures, however, dissipate much of their heat away from the plane they illuminate, while HPS fixtures dissipate more heat toward the plane they illuminate.
Elevated temperature reduces the lifespan of LEDs, so they are thermally-bonded to heat sinks where the thermal energy is removed by natural or fan-assisted convection and directed away from the plants they illuminate.
Conversely, HPS lamps operate at higher temperatures and thus generate more longwave radiation in the same direction as the photosynthetic radiation. This thermal radiation can be reduced using a barrier such as glass, but this reduces the photosynthetic radiation by about 10% (S1 Fig) and thus lowers the efficiency of the fixture.
The difference in how LED and HPS technologies dissipate thermal energy indicates that use of HPS fixtures will result in higher leaf temperatures. It is easy to misjudge the magnitude of this effect because HPS lamps are a far more concentrated light source than LEDs. Comparisons need to be made on the basis of equal photosynthetic photon flux (PPF).
Compared to sunlight and HPS lamps, LED fixtures emit almost no near infrared radiation (NIR; 700–3000 nm), but this radiation is not well absorbed by plant leaves. Photosynthetic (400 to 700 nm) and longwave (3,000 to 100,000 nm) radiation are about 95% absorbed, but non-photosynthetic solar NIR is only about 20% absorbed, and has a smaller effect on leaf heating. Unabsorbed radiation is either transmitted or reflected.
Right below this was the black dog shit of leaves at 100f, typical old let's sell LEDs and hope no one takes the study above with any seriousness especially the part about it being reflected and transmitted.
LEDs made all this up for sales, some may just be finding out about all the studies and figures that disqualify them from ever entering a serious academic institution lol