LED plant lighting market: low-key bloom

With the continuous expansion of LED in the field of lighting, plant lighting has occupied a place in this field, and gradually applied to various crop fields such as agricultural production, fruit and vegetable cultivation, and flower cultivation. Although the application scale is not as extensive as that of ordinary commercial or home lighting, plant lighting, as a special application field of LED, has gradually gained market recognition due to its superiority, and market demand is growing.

In general, China's current planting photography is still in its infancy, and technology and channel construction are the breakthrough points for many companies that want to seize the opportunities in this field. Foreign lighting giants are lighting the entire plant in the layout of LED plant lighting business. The industry has played a positive role in promoting.

Current status of plant lighting

Under the background of fierce competition in the lighting market and increasingly prominent environmental health problems, plant lighting applications have gradually become one of the directions of LED development. Many LED manufacturers have begun to deploy LED plant lighting business. In general, the light sources used in the cultivation of traditional plant facilities are generally fluorescent lamps, metal halide lamps, high-pressure sodium lamps and incandescent lamps. These light sources are selected according to the adaptability of the human eye to light, and the spectrum has many unnecessary wavelengths. It has little effect on the growth of plants. As the fourth generation of new lighting source, LED has the advantages of energy saving, environmental protection, safety and reliability, long service life, short response time, small size, light weight, low heat generation, easy dispersion or combined control, and many other important characteristics different from other electric light sources. The wavelength of the emitted light can range from ultraviolet C (~250 nm) to infrared (~1000 nm), and the wavelength range of light emitted by each LED can be narrow. Therefore, it is a very effective plant illumination source with real spectrum control capability and has broad development prospects.

Foreign markets are booming

It is understood that the global LED application plant lighting output value has started to show rapid growth since 2013. The preliminary statistics reached US$100 million in 2014 and is expected to reach US$500 million in 2017. As an emerging market, plant lighting has attracted the development of a large number of international giants.

In May 2016, Matsushita announced the delivery of the “Artificial Light Plant Factory System” to SG Greenhouse, a subsidiary of Western Japan Gas Company. SG Greenhouse began to carry out cultivation demonstration experiments in January 2016, and then began selling "low-potassium lettuce" that reduced the potassium content to less than 20% (98 mg/100 g or less) from May 20. It is reported that the artificial light plant system and cultivation technology delivered this time incorporates many technologies of Panasonic, including plant cultivation control technology using energy conservation, analysis and optical technology, and environmental control technologies such as lighting and air conditioning. The plant factory system will provide a homogeneous cultivation environment while reducing power consumption, improve cultivation yield, and contribute to agricultural industrialization.

In June, Cree announced the launch of XQ-E Photo Red LED optimized for plant lighting. Compared with the nearest peer products, the output of this product is similar, and the size is only 1/3. XQ-E Photo Red LED expands the range of small-sized LED devices optimized for plant lighting, enabling lighting manufacturers to reduce lamp size, reduce system cost, and provide higher photosynthetic photon Flux (PPF). Efficiency and reliability.

The domestic market is slightly lagging

Compared with foreign markets, domestic large enterprises do not actively develop the plant lighting market. The lack of comprehensive talents, high cost, lack of patents, and low output rate of enterprises are all difficulties faced by domestic enterprises. All of these have caused domestic plant lighting to lag behind the international market, and the domestic market penetration rate is low. Comprehensive talents who understand biological cultivation knowledge and LED technology are the key to developing plant lighting products. Many international manufacturers cooperate with research institutes to establish laboratories or plant factories with the support of national policies.

For domestic companies, this investment is too large and the cost is too high. At present, some enterprises cooperate with agricultural research institutions, but basically discuss related technical issues, and rarely involve the experimental application stage. However, the investment of most small and medium-sized enterprises in plant lighting only stays on the independent research and development of a few plants such as tomato and Chinese cabbage, that is, the simple illumination of related plants by LED lamps is not widely used.

The small scale, small quantity and lack of core technology are the bottlenecks in the development of domestic plant lighting technology. According to relevant statistics, as of June 2012, there are about 40 LED plant lighting companies in China with a certain scale. Guangdong is the main province of LED plant lighting enterprises, accounting for up to 84% of the country, most of which are concentrated in Shenzhen. Representative enterprises include Shenzhen Federal Heavy Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Hao Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Changtian Lighting Ltd., Shenzhen Sanxinbao Semiconductor Lighting Co., Ltd. and Shenzhen Yishangguang Technology Co., Ltd., etc. Followed by Shandong Province, accounting for 8%. In terms of demand, the areas with the largest demand for LED plant lighting are in Central China, East China and North China, and the agriculture and flower industries are relatively developed. However, from now on, the main market for LED plant lighting is abroad, domestic demand is still small, and it is in its infancy, so there are not many LED plant lighting companies in Shandong and Henan.

In addition to the uneven distribution of enterprises, China's semiconductor chip epitaxial wafer industry started late, accumulated less experience, and the patent strength in chip extension is relatively weak. A large number of core patents are in the hands of early leading companies such as Japan's Nichia and American Cree. It also greatly hindered the development of domestic chip companies. These are the problems facing the current development of plant lighting in China.

Plant lighting subverts traditional agricultural methods

With the deepening of research on semiconductor luminescent materials, the gradual improvement of LED manufacturing technology and the research and development of new materials, LED technology has also made breakthroughs. In the development of plant facilities cultivation, LED technology is gradually being used. Especially after the successful development of ultra-high brightness LED, the research on photophysical research, photosynthetic process and chlorophyll working mechanism has been widely used in plant physiology or cultivation.

Recently, the “Intelligent LED Plant Factory” independently researched and developed by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, with its “disruptive technology of land use and farming methods”, is the national “Twelfth Five-Year” technological innovation achievement held here. Debut at the show. It is reported that the technology according to the plant's "preference" for different spectra, select the corresponding LED light instead of sunlight as the light source, for 24 hours of uninterrupted illumination, temperature, humidity, light, airflow, carbon dioxide concentration and nutrient solution in the plant factory Environmental elements are automatically monitored in real time to ensure maximum photosynthesis. Compared with the traditional planting mode, the land utilization rate is high, the operation is labor-saving, the degree of mechanization is high, the product safety is non-polluting, and the nutritional value is greatly improved. At present, the research and development results have an important influence in the field of facility horticultural engineering at home and abroad. With the continuous advancement of technology, it has been very efficient to plant some plants in space using LED illumination.

In August 2015, astronauts living in the International Space Station first tasted the lettuce they planted in space. The seeds of the lettuce are sprinkled on a mat for rooting and germination, and the mat consists of soil and fertilizer. Each "vegetable box" is equipped with red, green and blue LED lights to promote vegetable growth. Scientists see the taste on the tip of the tongue as an important step in the manned spacecraft to Mars.

LED lighting cultivation is healthier and harmless

Some people think that the 21st century is the century of ecological agriculture, and physical agriculture is one of the main ways to realize ecological agriculture. Among many physics subject knowledge, light plays a vital role in it. How to control different artificial light sources to implement different "light fertilizers" for green plants under the condition of insufficient sun light, not only promote crop growth and development, but also achieve the purpose of increasing production, high efficiency, high quality, disease resistance and pollution-free. A state-of-the-art industrial park in Indiana currently has key technologies for future market horticulture and vegetable cultivation. The industrial park, called "Green Sense Farms," ​​is a collaboration between Philips, a home appliance and lighting company, and Green Sense Farms (GSF), a Chicago-based agricultural company, to create indoor plant factories using LED growth sources for specific crops. The plant has invested millions of dollars and is one of the largest plant factories in the world.

In fact, because of the lower temperature of the LED luminaire, it can be placed in an optimal position closer to the plant, thus ensuring that the parts of the plant are completely illuminate. This method eliminates the use of harmful pesticides, chemical fertilizers and preservatives, so that the output is organically improved, and there is almost no chemical addition, which coincides with the modern people's pursuit of high-quality green and healthy living. Moreover, indoor planting controlled by LED light sources can reduce the plant's growth cycle by 50% compared to conventional methods. This means that consumers have the opportunity to enjoy the local cultivation of fresh crops throughout the year.

Restricting the development factors of domestic plant lighting

Today, although LED plant lighting technology is widely used in some areas, and the cost price has declined, for most consumers, it is still in the "excessive price" ranks. The high cost is a factor that restricts the development of LED plant lighting. The lack of technology and imperfect policies are also restricting its development.

1. Lack of core technology. As international giant chip manufacturers are superior to domestic manufacturers in terms of luminous efficiency and reliability, the product chips of LED plant lighting in China still rely mainly on imports. The main 660 nm red light chip that agriculture needs is not able to form a scale. Domestic chip epitaxial wafer manufacturers are not willing to invest in manpower and material resources to develop agricultural red light chips, which greatly hinders the development of domestic chip companies.

2. Government support is not enough. Compared with foreign countries, the formulation of domestic policies and regulations is still in the initial stage, the government support is insufficient, there is a lack of systematic research and promotion, and the LED plant lighting product evaluation and measurement standard system is still not perfect. The company has not developed, which also makes the domestic market penetration rate low.

Whether it is from the perspective of promoting the development of modern agriculture or the realization of energy saving and environmental protection, the application of LED plant lights has very important significance, and the status and development needs of agriculture also provide new development opportunities for LED plant lights. With the increase of global LED application agricultural lighting penetration rate, the future market prospects are broad, domestic enterprises should also identify beliefs, start research on plant lighting, fundamentally break through the constraints of cost and technology, and jointly promote the commercial development of plant lighting in China. .