Yes, you need that type of driver, constant current. But you might have a problem: that many high voltage chips in series gets you very high voltage, almost 300v which i believe is max for the connectors and most cob holders. Please build with a lot of caution, ground youre frame etc cause a shock might be very dangerous. We allways try to use low voltage solutions in our builds and put the chips in parallel. Maybe 2 hlg150h-c1050 or similar is a better option, also means you can use them in 2 separate tents in the future.
Cobs good alternative? Depends. They are easy and cheap(ish) to replace if they break down or if you wanna change spectrums or similar. Some grow environments are not good for the chips and they can degrade from spraying/burning sulfur or similar. It used to be that (low wattage per chip ~35w) cobs was good for spread in comparison to quantum boards which need more distance to cannopy. But now we have strips and cheap china boards so you can use more of them which counters this.
Heatsink: thermal management is harder when the chip is 29mm in comparison to a larger board or strip. Hlg96 will run fine at 150w on a 100w heatsink. Also, no matter how big your heatsink: smaller LES will allways run hotter than a larger at same wattage. Check the lum/w at 85C in the datasheet instead of going with the impossible 25C values and the picture is different.
Cobs are easier to source in specialty spectrums.
Also, i hear a lot of people had tried both and prefered the growth under cobs but i havent seen hoow these grows where constructed and if they had a good solution on spread and hanging height.
@Renfro is the last person i saw doing a big cob build he might wanna chip in.
