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What is Efficacy?
Photon Efficacy refers to how efficient a horticulture lighting system is at converting electrical energy into photons of PAR. Many horticulture lighting manufacturers use total electrical watts or watts per square foot as a metric to describe light intensity. However, these metrics really don’t tell you anything since watts are a measurement describing electrical input, not light output. If the PPF of the light is known along with the input wattage, you can calculate how efficient a horticulture lighting system is at converting electrical energy into PAR. As a reminder, the unit for PPF is μmol/s, and the unit to measure watts is Joule per second (J/s), therefore, the seconds in the numerator and denominator cancel out, and the unit becomes µmol/J. The higher this number is, the more efficient a lighting system is at converting electrical energy into photons of PAR.
What is PAR?
PAR is photosynthetic active radiation. PAR light is the wavelengths of light within the visible range of 400 to 700 nanometers (nm) which drive photosynthesis .PAR is a much used (and often misused) term related to horticulture lighting. PAR is NOT a measurement or “metric” like feet, inches or kilos. Rather, it defines the light needed to support photosynthesis. The and spectral light quality of PAR light are the important metrics to focus on. Quantum sensors are the primary instrument used to quantify the light intensity of horticulture lighting systems. These sensors work by using an optical filter to create a uniform sensitivity to PAR light, and can be used in combination with a light meter to measure the instantaneous light intensity or a data logger to measure cumulative light intensity.
What is Full spectrum?
Natural Sunlight includes all spectrums, even beyond what we can see with the naked eye such as ultraviolet and infrared. A full-spectrum LED grow light means that grow light closely resembles light from the sun. According to experts, full-spectrum grow lights can produce bigger plant harvests in a shorter period of time. Aside from having a healthier harvest, you can also expect your plants to have faster growth and development due to the power of these types of lights. Our grow light also adds 10% UV inside, which can mimic the UV rays from the sun, which helps your plants grow better.
What is PPF?
An electronic light source converts electrons into photons. Lights for human vision measure output with lumens (measured in lux or foot-candles). Lights for photobiological reactions measure the output with photosynthetic photon flux(PPF). PPF tells us how much PAR a light source emits. Where PPF measures the total PAR output of a lighting system, PPFD measures how much of the light is delivered to a canopy. PPF is expressed as micromole- per second (μmol /s).
What is PPFD
Before light can be effective in a photochemical reaction (weather photosynthetic or photomorphogenic), it must first be absorbed. Photosynthetic Flux Density(PPFD) is the measurement of PAR delivered to a specific area. It is expressed as micromole-per-meter squared-per second (μmol/m2/s). This is the only measurement that informs us of the amount of light being delivered to a crop which enables photosynthesis.