Aussie High Lights – we're official

[PSUAGRO.]

It should be noted that Valoya is also hindered by finland's laws on cannabis.....

 

[Vladim]

Just to set the record straight with my rudimentary understanding of physics, all energy is eventually converted to heat.

150W is 150W and that energy will be released in three forms: convective heat, conductive heat, and radiated heat. Radiated heat takes the form of any electromagnetic wave – including visible light and infrared. Infrared is different to visible light, as it has a frequency that interacts with water molecules that transfers its energy very quickly, but they are still both electromagnetic waves.

That means we feel "hotter" under infrared light because the radiation interacts with our water molecules (similar to a microwave oven) that leads to a fast build-up of energy (heat). Visible light also interacts with our molecules, but most of it is reflected, which means a lot less energy is transferred in the same amount of time. But eventually visible light will be absorbed by each surface it hits and raise its temperature incrementally until all the light is absorbed. Infrared is just absorbed quicker in water.

LEDs emit more radiation in the visible (and PAR) range compared to HIDs. HIDs emit more radiation in the infrared range. LEDs also emit conductive and convective heat, which is released into the atmosphere via anything that touches it, including a heatsink (conductive) and then the air that blows over it (convective). HIDs also emit conductive and convective heat (from the bulb).

Plants absorb light and that energy drives photosynthesis and is stored in the plant. But eventually all that energy is released when the plant dies and the wood composts or burns (exothermic reaction).

What all this means is, 150W of LED will eventually be converted into the same amount of heat as 150W of HID. But HIDs will transfer more heat through infrared radiation that warms the plant's water molecules, whilst LEDs will transfer more photosynthetic energy in the form of PAR that is used for photosynthesis. So a LED will drive more photosynthesis for the same amount of wattage as a HID, and a HID will increase leaf temperatures more than an LED.

The final piece of the puzzle is that any visible light that is not absorbed by the plant will also increase leaf temperatures – that energy is not captured and stored by the plant via photosynthesis, so it starts to vibrate the water molecules in the plant which "heats up". Heat is just a measure of the active state of a molecule, which can be passed on to other molecules. What we fell as "heat" is just a transfer of energy.

A complete and balanced photosynthetic spectrum will drive more photosynthesis with less leaf temperature increase than a narrow spectrum that bombards the plant with high amounts of certain light (blue for example) that cannot be fully absorbed. So even amongst LEDs, a full spectrum will transfer less initial "heat" than a narrow spectrum. That is the simplest explanation I can think of.

Masterpiece

 

[BBQtoast]

Masterpiece

Although there is not a lot of ir compared to visible light so the effects are small.

 

[Grow Lights Australia]

It should be noted that Valoya is also hindered by finland's laws on cannabis.....

Tell us about it! We're also very much hindered in Australia, but we try.

 

[Grow Lights Australia]

I did not see any real benifit to having white, red and uv on seperate channels and sperate timing. I did many differtent timings and none produced significantly different results. IMO mono uv leds are too intense too much of a point source. Perhaps only a slightly faster finish time with red eod but couldn't really do direct comparisons on any of it much is subjective opinion. I added a 315cmh hit uv and red, your new boards seem a good direct replacement for it. They really did design the original boards to suppliment cmh, that's why I tried to build one out of leds. I originally pushed @Grow Lights Australia to do seperate channels but have come to the conclusion it is unnecessary and adds complexity where it is not needed, focus more on your environment. IMO and I conclude you can bake it all into one channel and get as much of not more benifit.
Thank you @Grow Lights Australia for doing what you are doing. I looked at grtting more boards but could not get my cc to work on your site (before new boards came out). Sorry I didn't push the issue but it was cheaper to add the cmh and was really the way I needed to go at the time.

Mate, if something works it works. We appreciate the feedback.

 

[tilopa]

I did not see any strips available under "DIY-Grow Lights and Strips", did I miss something, or are you planning on selling strips in the future?

 

[scale420]

Hello,
I have heard that GLA has great customer service.. but didn't expected this good..
In short summary... doing a favor for me he lost substantial sum of money and shipping (overseas) was canceled, but instead of refusing to do any business with me, He suggested me to try it again and gave me extra discount. And all this time we were messaging back and forth and not even single time there were any negative word or idea towards me.
Exceptional Lights
Exceptional customer service

 

[Grow Lights Australia]

Hello,
I have heard that GLA has great customer service.. but didn't expected this good..
In short summary... doing a favor for me he lost substantial sum of money and shipping (overseas) was canceled, but instead of refusing to do any business with me, He suggested me to try it again and gave me extra discount. And all this time we were messaging back and forth and not even single time there were any negative word or idea towards me.
Exceptional Lights
Exceptional customer service

Well that's because it wasn't your fauit. The problem was with our card payment processor who incorrectly flagged your transaction – we're now looking for a new payment processor (In case ayone is wondering, that is why we don't have a credit card facility at the moment, but we're working on it.)

Yes, we lost money, but I think doing the right thing when it's not the customer's fault is more important. I'm just glad everything is over and that you received your order without any further issues. It took time, but we got there in the end. I would aso like to mention that you were polite, patient and a pleasure to deal with the whole time. Sometimes customers can be a bit rude and angry when problems occur with shipping (which is usually not our fault, either), but you were always understanding.

So thank you for the kind words, thank you for being a nice guy and most importantly, thank you for your business

 

[Grow Lights Australia]

I did not see any strips available under "DIY-Grow Lights and Strips", did I miss something, or are you planning on selling strips in the future?

We have lots of Samsung strips in stock (care of @Prawn Connery ) but I haven't put them up on the website yet. I hope we didn't give you the wrong impression. At some point we may produce our own strips, but not for a while. I will try to get the Sammies up next week. They will be cheap. Not "Arrow cheap" but cheap enough for those who only want to buy 3 or 4 strips at a time to build their own strip lights. We were also going to get some 3mm U-channel cut to length so that we can offer heatsinks to go with the strips and sell them as a package, but Christmas and New Year got in the way and that is something else we need to organise. The plan was to sell ready-to-assemble strip builds with all the components required, as having to source small numbers of strips, extrusions, connectors and hook-up wire can be a bit more expensive and time-consuming than having everything in the one place. Our boards are really too powerful and a little pricy to be using as cloning lights and small veg setp-ups, so we thought having a cheap 3000K or 4000K strip build would be a good solution.

 

[lazaah]

Any news on the par maps for the new panels? Think I'm running mone a bit too keen!

 

[Grow Lights Australia]

Any news on the par maps for the new panels? Think I'm running mone a bit too keen!

OK mate, I'm sorry it has taken so long, but the website has been updated with the new PAR maps here: https://growlightsaustralia.com/420-par-maps/

Imust say i was pretty surprised when I upploaded ther IES files to create these PAR maps as the new High Light 420 boards are significantly more powerful than the old High Lights, and the addition of the wide-angle monos – as well as the slightly larger footprint – has spread the light even more. These lights are not lacking for anything.

 

[Grow Lights Australia]

I did not see any strips available under "DIY-Grow Lights and Strips", did I miss something, or are you planning on selling strips in the future?

We've got the Samsung strips up here: https://growlightsaustralia.com/product-category/diy-led-grow-lights/strips/

Prices include GST and there are bulk discounts. We're working on geting some extrusions made locally with the Samsung F-Series screw pattern that can be sold as DIY kits for those who want to build cheap veg frames. The idea is to offer complete driver and driverless kits based on designs by @Prawn Connery

Once the Sammies are gone, we'll look at maybe getting some Bridgelux strips in to do the same. After that, who knows

 

[Grow Lights Australia]

Red lines are High Light 420 panels mounted to heatsinks. Average PPFD is in the box at the bottom marked "Eav [lx]" (which is PPFD not Lux)



235W panel over 80cm x 80cm area at 50cm hang height



340W Long board over a 1.2m x 60cm (4' x 2') area at 50cm (20")



340W Square board over a 90cm x 90cm (3' x 3') area at 50 cm



470W Square board over a 1.2m x 1.2 (4' x 4') area at 60cm (24") averages almost 900 PPFD



Fullhouse 2 x 470W Long boards over 1.5m x 1.5m (5' x 5') and ready for CO2 at an average 1232 PPFD and peak of 1440

 

[tilopa]

We've got the Samsung strips up here: https://growlightsaustralia.com/product-category/diy-led-grow-lights/strips/

Prices include GST and there are bulk discounts. We're working on geting some extrusions made locally with the Samsung F-Series screw pattern that can be sold as DIY kits for those who want to build cheap veg frames. The idea is to offer complete driver and driverless kits based on designs by @Prawn Connery

Once the Sammies are gone, we'll look at maybe getting some Bridgelux strips in to do the same. After that, who knows

Thanks.
I'm impressed that your price with shipping is cheaper that Digi-key.

 

[BBQtoast]

Be nice to lower the centre ppfds and raise the edges just a little more.

 

[Rastafarout]

@growlightsaustralia what's the penetration depth? When you say 24 inches ppdf 900 average....
.so my question is what's the drop off from 900 if you like to grow 1m +- high plants
what's the magical band so to speak

So what I mean is we really need to know what that "magic band " is from 900 down till the unusable light drop off how wide that band is in inches would be much appreciated in side view graph (not birdseye )
Then can instantly see usable ppdf band width
In a nutshell each models tested penetration levels
Kind regards

 

[Grow Lights Australia]

@growlightsaustralia what's the penetration depth? When you say 24 inches ppdf 900 average....
.so my question is what's the drop off from 900 if you like to grow 1m +- high plants
what's the magical band so to speak

So what I mean is we really need to know what that "magic band " is from 900 down till the unusable light drop off how wide that band is in inches would be much appreciated in side view graph (not birdseye )
Then can instantly see usable ppdf band width
In a nutshell each models tested penetration levels
Kind regards

The only issue with the "magic band" concept is that once you throw a plant into the mix, your "light penetration" levels cannot be easily measured. Light does not drop off as it travels – a photon is a photon until it interacts with another object. So it either gets absorbed by the plant, reflected off the plant, or reflected off the walls and/or roof and/or floor of the grow area (and anything else that is in the area).

"Penetration" is not merely a function of the Inverse Square Law, but rather how many individual points of light there are over a given area and how those points of light interact with any and all reflective and absorbant surfaces. There are plenty of threads on this site that explain all this.

If you would like to expore 3D modelling I can attach the IES files for you to download and then you can upload them to DIAlux. I can also post up some layered simulations showing the same light in the same area at different heights. You can extrapolate the footprints at any given height from there.

Unfortunately I'm working with an earlier version of DIALux in Bootcamp on a Mac as I don't have a Windows PC and DIALux only works on PCs. Later versions don't work on my machine. If I post up the IES files, would you like to do some 3D simiulations and post them up here?

 

[Grow Lights Australia]

Be nice to lower the centre ppfds and raise the edges just a little more.

It depends how you grow. For single plant grows it can be advantageous to have more light in the middle. For scrogs, you can cultivate in a "cup" shape – lower in the middle, higher around the edges – and take advatage of the vertical distribution of light that hits the sides of the plants that grow taller around the edges (partial vertical grow). An even canopy distribution works best with an even canopy. That's why we have different layouts for a 1.2m x 1.2m for example showing one Square fixture in the middle or two Long fixtures side-by-side. I didn't post the 1.2m x 1.2m Long board simulation, so here it is. I'll post another one up later showing the fixtures spread even further apart, but you get the idea.

I'll also post up a simulation of wall-to-wall boards which some of our customers have done, showing an almost blanket effect of even light distribution. I have seen the arguments before about panel LED lighting vs bar lighting, but I have never seen more even light distribution than using wall-to-wall panels. It comes down to a matter of cost but you'd be surprised how many of our customers do it.

I will be back later.

 

[Rastafarout]

The only issue with the "magic band" concept is that once you throw a plant into the mix, your "light penetration" levels cannot be easily measured. Light does not drop off as it travels – a photon is a photon until it interacts with another object. So it either gets absorbed by the plant, reflected off the plant, or reflected off the walls and/or roof and/or floor of the grow area (and anything else that is in the area).

"Penetration" is not merely a function of the Inverse Square Law, but rather how many individual points of light there are over a given area and how those points of light interact with any and all reflective and absorbant surfaces. There are plenty of threads on this site that explain all this.

If you would like to expore 3D modelling I can attach the IES files for you to download and then you can upload them to DIAlux. I can also post up some layered simulations showing the same light in the same area at different heights. You can extrapolate the footprints at any given height from there.

Unfortunately I'm working with an earlier version of DIALux in Bootcamp on a Mac as I don't have a Windows PC and DIALux only works on PCs. Later versions don't work on my machine. If I post up the IES files, would you like to do some 3D simiulations and post them up here?

Thanks that makes sense with more points of light will equal more penetration,
But I would mean without the plant thrown in what the levels would be

Cos there's different types of plants leafy tall short ect ,so would use the plant/grows style that fits the "magic band "
Anyway I thought there could be some laymans terms to describe ,like you have just done above ,cheers
Just the light does not drop off ? It must have cutoff distance that's no use like if you hung the, 3m high that wouldn't barely grow much

Not computer savvy that's why asking for side graft lol ...don't how to open files ect
Cheers

 

[Grow Lights Australia]

Thanks that makes sense with more points of light will equal more penetration,
But I would mean without the plant thrown in what the levels would be

As requested, here is a 50cm band – from 0.5m-1m canopy height. You can see that for each 10cm (4") there is an average loss of about 50 PPFD.

From a peak 1350 PPFD at an average 1192 PPFD, intensity drops off to a peak of 1000 PPFD at an average of 940 PPFD. This represents a peak loss of 350 PPFD but an average loss of only 250 PPFD due to the better spread of light.

50cm


60cm


70cm


80cm


90cm


1m