The development of science and technology constantly changes our way of life and work, and the maturity of plant lighting technology is transforming the traditional farming method of “facing the loess and facing the sky”. Under the influence of the objective environment of the fierce competition in the general lighting market and the increasingly prominent environmental health problems, the LED plant lighting, which was originally dominated by Japanese companies, has become a new blue ocean in the market segment, attracting a large number of Philips, Osram and Yiguang. The international giants are scrambling to develop, and many domestic companies are also involved.
However, it has been reported in the industry that the price of vegetables artificially cultivated with LED plant lighting is several times higher than that of traditional sun-lit vegetables, and the initial investment is too high and the investment period is long, which restricts the large-scale promotion of the market to a certain extent. The sound of "the limited development of the LED plant lighting market" came out. The author went deep into the market, objectively analyzed the development prospects of the domestic LED plant lighting field, and tried to provide enterprises with the future development direction of LED plant lighting.
LED plant lighting investment and output are not balanced?
“How long has humanity been, how long the market for plant illumination will be; how large is the scale of human development, and how large is the market for plant illumination.” Xu Zhigang, a professor at Nanjing Agricultural University who has been focusing on plant lighting research, expressed his understanding of the future in an interview with reporters. LED plant lighting development confidence.
At the beginning of this year, various corporate propaganda and media activities on LED plant lighting were overwhelming. There is a broad picture of “Qian Jing”: According to the survey, the global LED plant growth lamp output has begun to show rapid growth since 2013, although the output value is only a thousand. Ten thousand dollars, but it is estimated that it will exceed $35 million in 2014, and it is expected to challenge $300 million in 2017. There are also limited market doubts: the cost of LED plant lighting is difficult to reduce, and more is government behavior, corporate development resistance Larger, the future is only positioned in some high-end consumer markets or personalized applications.
Price and output status
Mitsubishi Chemical said in a media interview in 2012 that the company's investment in LED plant lighting is about 10 times that of ordinary plant lighting, but the price of such vegetables in the market is four times that of ordinary vegetables. It was precisely because the investment and output of LED plant lighting were not directly proportional to the company at that time, which made a large number of domestic enterprises in this market segment discouraged. Today, although LED plant lighting technology is relatively mature, and the cost price has dropped significantly, but for most consumers, it is still in the "unattainable" ranks.
How high is its price? What is the output applied to crops? To this end, the author interviewed some companies and experts in the field of LED plant lighting.
From the sales price of LED plant lighting products:
6-30 times higher than traditional plant lighting
According to Yu Haiyuan, sales manager of the Federal Heavy Industry (Sidley) Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., in the case of the Federation, the price of 50W~700W LED plant lamps is between 220 yuan and 2200 yuan. Compared with high pressure sodium lamps, LED plant lamps are relatively expensive. a lot of. For example, the same is 600W, the high-pressure sodium lamp plant lamp is 300 yuan, and the LED plant lamp is as high as 2,000 yuan. According to the reporter's reading of the information, the price of LED plant lighting fixtures of the Federal Heavy Industry is the middle and lower grades of similar products. Due to the large scale of production, the corresponding product cost is reduced. Shenzhen Sidley Group Co., Ltd. (Federal Heavy Branch) is the second largest exporter of LED plant lighting in China in January-February 2015, with a market share of 16%.
"There is a gap in prices. That is the misleading wattage. The same wattage of plant lighting products, the advantages of LED is more obvious." Chen Chen, the business department of Shenzhen Panke Technology Co., Ltd. stressed. At present, the products of LED plant lights have been diversified, and the price of each product is not the same. Take the Pantech 600WLED plant lamp as an example, the price is 4100 yuan/set, although the difference between the high-power sodium lamp plant lamp of the same power is more than 2000 yuan. But the 600W LED can match the high-pressure sodium lamp of kW.
Wang Jing, Dongguan Bio-light Environmental Technology Co., Ltd. holds the same view. “LED plant lamps have outstanding advantages over high-pressure sodium lamps and fluorescent lamps in terms of service life and luminous efficiency, and can customize the spectrum according to different plant needs to maximize effective power. Therefore, the price is higher."
Xu Dong, director of Foshan Haoliang Solid Light Source Research Institute, compares the price of plant lighting products with a more specific and professional approach from a technical point of view: "Theoretically, the price should be calculated for each watt of radiant power, but based on the large Some products only indicate the power consumption, and can only be calculated by the power consumption. The power consumption is about 8-30 yuan/watt. The LED is 6-30 times higher than the high-pressure sodium lamp and fluorescent lamp. However, this comparison is not scientific. Because the concept of plant lighting itself is flawed, we call it 'plant artificial radiation source'."
From the LED plant lighting crop output situation:
Under the premise of reaching a quantitative scale, the crop yield is slightly higher, and the output price is only twice that of traditional planting.
Professor Xu Zhigang said that under the controllable environment of LED, the plant growth environment can be adjusted to a suitable degree through scientific adjustment, and the yield will naturally be higher than that of traditional planting. In terms of crop yield prices, when LED plant lighting is planted to a certain scale, such as plant factories, the price of crops is only twice that of ordinary crops.
Xu Dong believes that the current planting output of domestic plant factories has not exceeded the traditional planting. “According to the planting cycle, the planting cycle of the artificial planting environment is 1/2-1/4 of the traditional planting cycle, and the yield is related to the number of layers of three-dimensional planting. It is usually 4-8 times of plane planting. If the production per square meter is calculated according to the output per square meter, the production per square meter of plant factories in Japan has exceeded that of traditional planting. China is still not up to the present, but compared with each other in terms of output per square meter. It is also unreasonable. We compare the output value with the profit index, and the finished product price is 1.5-3 times higher than the traditional planting (the difference is different).
According to our estimates, the cost of organic vegetables produced by photovoltaic-powered LED plant factories is only about 20% higher than that of ordinary organic vegetables on the market.” With the rapid development of China's photovoltaic industry Development, the decline in the cost of photovoltaic power generation also makes it possible for LED plant factories to make profits.
"Light is only a factor of plant growth. Depending on the place of production, LED fill light can increase crop yield by 10%-30%. Moreover, in terms of seedling, it can shorten the nursery cycle and inhibit the growth of seedlings; for application of supplementation, agricultural products The quality (color and taste) has been improved.” Dongguan Bio-Environment also pays attention to the quality of crops themselves.
Wei Zihan, Marketing Director of Beijing Zhongda Yida Facilities Horticulture Technology Co., Ltd., elaborates on the principle of plant nutrient value under LED fill light: “LED lighting products that promote plant growth are not only 60% to 80% more energy efficient than ordinary fluorescent lamps, but also In the special formula of light source quality, in addition to red light and blue light, different proportions of green light, yellow light and far infrared light are added, wherein green light protects the human eye, and yellow light can increase the value of the object itself. Chlorophyll and carotene and other ingredients to enhance the nutritional value of the plant itself, far infrared light can increase plant yield by 10% to 20%."
Export-oriented domestic low penetration
On the whole, although the cost of LED plant lighting is much lower than that in 2010, it is still rare in China for large-scale application in agricultural cultivation, but companies generally say that their sales in foreign countries are very good. According to the survey, 90% of domestic LED plant lighting fixtures are currently sold to foreign markets, especially in Europe and the United States, while domestic sales are minimal.
"Domestic sales account for about 3%, because domestic consumers temporarily can not accept the price of LED plant lighting. I think it will take at least 5 years, the cost of domestic LED plant lights can be reduced and spread in the country." Haiyuan bluntly.
In this regard, Xu Dong said that most of the domestic LED plant lighting sales are experimental and popular demonstration, scale sales are rare, mainly distributed in the main vegetable producing areas and investment-oriented agricultural projects.
Relatively speaking, the domestic sales situation of Shenzhen Pantech is more optimistic. “In the early stage, the domestic sales of LED plant lighting lamps accounted for about 40%, and the foreign proportion was about 60%. I believe that over time, with the passage of time, The mainland Chinese government has promised to support Europe in terms of policies, and domestic sales will increase sharply. In fact, the current pan-African projects are mainly concentrated in the domestic market.” Pan Chen Chen Chen said. The price of LEDs is indeed a hard injury in the plant lighting industry, especially in the domestic market, but this is only a matter of time. “Is the phone expensive before? Is the TV expensive before? Every new product development has to go through a process from high to low.”
A stumbling block that hinders the development of LED plant lighting
Undoubtedly, the high cost of LED plant lighting has become the most deadly factor hindering its development. This is also the problem that practitioners have been trying to solve. Once the price breaks through, LED plant lighting can be quickly opened in the domestic market.
Fang Haiming, deputy general manager and LED technology director of Shenzhen Duofuo New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., believes that the price will affect the speed of product promotion in agriculture, so more optimization design and market promotion are needed.
“The cost of raw materials cannot be controlled, so the only way to change the production structure is to use automated equipment instead of manual operation to reduce production costs by saving labor costs. But this is only a plan, and it is still difficult to achieve. There are fewer comprehensive talents in agriculture.” Federal Heavy Industries said in Haiyuan that it can reduce costs from automated production.
High cost is a factor that restricts the development of LED plant lighting, but it is not the only factor...
Light and plant one-sided combination
Professor Xu Zhigang repeatedly stressed that the development of LED bio-lighting industry has always had the problem of “heavy LEDs and light creatures”. In the aspect of LED plant lighting, the R&D personnel of the light source enterprise lacks a deep understanding of the plant and its cultivation principles. In practice, LED is the main body, and no plant is the main body, and there is no comprehensive consideration from the overall needs of the plant cultivation principle; On the other hand, researchers in the field of agriculture lack a profound understanding of light and light sources, and thus it is difficult to provide a suitable solution for the reasonable demand of plants for light and light source from the perspective of light and light source.
Under the conditions of plant factories, the relationship between LED light source and plant physiological activities, the inherent law of LED light source on plant yield and quality, the matching relationship between LED light source and other environmental factors, etc., require deep understanding and grasp by practitioners. .
Fang Haiming said from the practical point of view of plants: "The so-called LED plant growth lights on the market are simple red and blue. In fact, they can't really promote the growth of plants under the conditions of light. And flowering results. This requires relevant research institutions and lighting companies to conduct detailed research, while achieving a variety of crops common LED plant lighting." Dongguan Bio-Environment Wang Jing also said that the need to establish a database of different plant light characteristics.
Lack of core patents
At present, the domestic manufacturers of plant growth and illumination lamps are small in scale and small in number, and are highly concentrated in the Shenzhen area, and most of them are scattered in the manufacture of functional lighting manufacturers. Therefore, the peak 660 nm red light chip that agriculture mainly needs cannot be scaled. Domestic chip epitaxial wafer manufacturers are also reluctant to invest in manpower and material resources to develop agricultural red light chips. And because international giant chip manufacturers are better than domestic manufacturers in terms of luminous efficiency and reliability, the product chips of LED plant lighting in China still rely mainly on imports.
The domestic 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 Corey, which greatly hindered domestic chip companies. development of.
Single technical research topic
Plant cultivation is a professional, comprehensive technology that is not simple. Xu Dong analysis, first of all, plant lights are not just plant growth applications under artificial environment. Systematic applications of plant planting include seedling technology, plant protection technology, plant growth control technology, plant taste control technology, etc., and most of the current plant lights are in plants. Growth applications. However, as far as the application of plant growth is concerned, there are also technical research capabilities of light quality, light quantity, and photoperiod, and the influence of driving technology on plant growth efficiency. In addition, there are technical research topics in the regulation of the artificial environment, and it is a multi-disciplinary application.
Lack of corporate leadership
Enterprises have jumped into the blue ocean of LED plant lighting, but the market has not set a series of norms and standards, causing the current market confusion. Compared with foreign countries, the formulation of domestic policies and regulations is still in the initial stage, the government support is insufficient, there is no systematic research and promotion, and the LED plant lighting product evaluation and measurement standard system is far from perfect.
On the other hand, compared with the 100 billion-scale general lighting field, domestic large enterprises do not bother with the “small” market of plant lighting, which has freed up a new market segment for domestic SMEs. However, this also caused domestic plant lighting to lag behind the international market, making the domestic market penetration low. “There are a lot of companies that pay attention to LED plant lighting, but most of them are small companies. The scale is small and it is difficult to do it.” Professor Xu Zhigang said bluntly, “It’s not just the LED industry, but the whole industry. I’m It is believed that the mode of production and sales should be established by the leading enterprises engaged in the production and sales of agricultural products, and the way of LED light source and coordination is suitable. Because the LED illuminating market is the most lacking in systemic and leading, it must be clustered and grouped. Promote and systematically promote LED plant lights."
Where will the future of LED plant lighting go?
With the development of LED technology, not only many foreign LED plant factories can realize the mass production of plants, but also the Chinese market is slowly emerging. Then, as the world's fourth largest plant factory country, what is the development prospect of China's LED plant lighting market? In which direction will plant lighting develop? In this interview, a number of senior industry experts and corporate executives were interviewed for in-depth interpretation and systematic interpretation.
Development prospects: epoch-making significance
Environmental pollution is an internal driving force
In an interview with reporters, the director of Foshan Haoliang Solid Light Source Research Institute pointed out that plant lights are the result of joint research by scientists at home and abroad for decades. The safety of technology has been fully demonstrated and there are no harmful effects. It is the main technology for agricultural production in the future. In fact, the global agricultural pollution (pesticides, fertilizers) exceeds the industrial pollution area, but the pollution level is lower than industrial pollution. It is particularly prominent in China. Pollution problems and food safety have become political problems. Agricultural production in the factory or plant factory model must be developed.
In response to some industry believe that LED plant lighting is still a "virtual fire" remark, Xu Dong expressed his opinion. "When food safety threatens these speakers, there is no such voice. Look at our environmental pollution. If you look at the prices of health care products and medical care, you will not think that vegetables have high and low ends. Safe food is a need, not a taste, and a survival problem. In essence, plant factories are not progressing in planting technology, but are polluted by the environment. For the industries that are forced out, if the blue sky and green space are always there, we do not need a plant factory in a non-polluting environment, and food safety and healthy living are the internal driving force."
Now that food safety problems are getting worse and the environmental pollution is escalating, I am very optimistic about the prospects of the plant lighting industry.
On this issue, Fang Haiming, deputy general manager and LED technology director of Shenzhen Duofuo New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., pointed out that from the current domestic and international agricultural planting, soil pollution is getting more and more serious, and the degree of desertification is also Expanding, the issue of food security has also been valued by more and more ordinary people. Under the premise of these problems, LED plant lighting will solve some problems existing at present, for example, LED plant lighting can Achieving soilless cultivation can reduce the problem of soil destruction or poor soil resources in some areas. At the same time, it can change the current flat planting method and realize three-dimensional planting, which will completely subvert the current agricultural planting methods. Epoch-making significance. Therefore, LED plant lighting will have more and greater development potential. Agriculture itself is a long-term work. It takes a certain period of time to carry out related technical research and experiments. This is an inevitable process. ”
Optimist
LED lighting emerging potential stocks
Two years ago, a number of industry experts unanimously stated that due to the weakness of basic agricultural research and the high cost of LEDs, the agricultural application of LED lighting is still in its infancy in China, and the time has passed. What is the development of LED agricultural lighting today? Fang Haiming responded, "From this year's point of view, the application of LED lighting in agriculture is gradually expanding, much faster than expected, but in the actual development process also encountered some problems, including technical problems, verification time And the cost and other aspects. The development of LED agricultural lighting is still in the growth stage, there is still a long way to go, and the future will be an emerging potential stock of LED lighting."
"Through the past few years, I have been visiting LED plant lighting research and related companies. I think LED plant lighting is still a very good development prospect, but it is still in its infancy, including technical and product. All need to be continuously optimized and perfected. Agriculture is a strategic highland for future industry development. Food is indispensable, and food security is a top priority. Therefore, I think LED plant lighting will be in the next 3-5 years. There will be a large-scale explosive development in the right and left time, and more lighting companies will invest in this emerging field.” Fang Haiming has high hopes for LED plant lighting.
The main development direction of future LED applications
Talking about the development prospects of the plant lighting market, Xu Dong made an incisive analysis from the current situation, and believed that the LED plant growth lamp is in line with the future development trend, so it will be widely used in China's future agriculture.
He believes that from the perspective of the application of plant factories in foreign countries in the past few years, the first to enter the plant factory is a large industrial enterprise rather than an agricultural producer. Many industrial enterprises have seen that the market profitability of industrial manufacturing is becoming smaller, while agriculture The price of products is increasing year by year. The transfer of corporate capital to agriculture will bring higher returns than industrial investment. In addition, the government has a higher level of support for agricultural modernization. These years have led to the trend of industrial enterprises turning to agriculture, from Japan. It can be seen that capital always flows to high-profit industries.
"From the perspective of our LED lighting industry, plant lights are also one of the directions of LED technology applications. The application of LED technology is divided into visual and non-visual applications. Plant lights and light health care are non-visual applications. The market competition of the lighting industry will be Leading to the transformation of lighting products into plant lights, the development of plant lights is also based on the huge market demand for agricultural planting. We estimate that if 4% of the large and medium-sized urban population consumes plant factory products, the total market demand for plant lights is close. The total demand for indoor lighting products in these cities is a very tempting market. At the same time, the lighting market is the consumer market, and the plant lamp market is the market that produces agricultural output. The competition for product prices is more competition for product technology. It is a benign cycle of technology and products. It is difficult for enterprises without technological development capability to transform into the plant lamp market." Xu Dong added.
Xu Dong concluded: "From the Central No. 1 document, it can be seen that in the future, China's agricultural industry needs to turn to environmentally friendly and pollution-free products. At the same time, land circulation also provides a good foundation for capital to enter agriculture. Our judgment is that the plant lamp market is the future. The main development direction of LED application in the past 10 years is an important direction for the transformation and upgrading of lighting enterprises. We are very optimistic about the plant lamp market. This year, we will jointly invest 10 million yuan to set up a plant factory technology research and development center. This center has obtained The Municipal Science and Technology Bureau approved and applied for a new research and development institution in Guangdong Province. Currently, I am looking forward to the distribution of other enterprises entering the center. I personally have great expectations for this center. This will be the first innovation center to operate on the scale of commercial operation of plant lights. ."
Realism
The outlook is good, but the reality is cruel
Compared with the optimistic optimism, Professor Xu Zhigang of Nanjing Agricultural University did not hide his concerns, and said sharply, "The prospects are good, but the reality is cruel!"
He further analyzed: "The plant lighting market depends on the sales target of crops for the price and quality of agricultural products, and thus the market segmentation. First of all, it is necessary to find out who the crops are planted for, not blindly To do it, otherwise it will only lose money. Although LED plant lights are currently positioned in the high-end market, any new technology is led by the high-end market, the scale is gradually increasing, the cost is gradually lower, and the market can develop. Now many companies I want to go fishing, but many people are eliminated if they can't get it."
High price constraints, difficult to popularize
According to Wang Mengyuan, general manager of Foshan Zhonghao Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd., although the company is actively participating in the field of LED agricultural lighting, the development prospects in this field are not obvious. "The scope of plant lighting is very wide. The requirements of each plant for the product and the characteristics of the spectrum are different. It is very passive for us and difficult to do. Objectively speaking, I am not good at the plant lighting market. LED plant lighting is subject to price constraints, which may be more of a government act, and the company's words are somewhat difficult. We only make special designs and products for individual customer needs, such as we use LED lighting technology to grow marijuana. Other plant lighting in areas such as vegetables has not been covered."
Moreover, LED plant lighting has certain technical thresholds compared to general lighting products.
Yu Haiyuan, Sales Manager of Electronic Science and Technology (Sidley), exclaimed: "It is undeniable that LED plant light fill light technology will be the new trend and development direction of IT agriculture (technical agriculture) and urban facilities agriculture, but subject to price Due to factors, the domestic market is limited. I don’t think the price will go down and it will not be popular in China."
Development direction: the direction of profit maximization
Even though LED plant lighting faces many obstacles or does not reach the balance between input and output, its development prospects are broad. To borrow the words of Professor Xu Zhigang, “LED plant lighting will form a real market, and this market will be long-lasting. In-depth, large-scale, because it is a truly profitable country, benefiting the people, and self-interested, and is an activity that really has beneficial outputs."
The road is in front of you, but in which direction can you go faster and better? In this regard, it has compiled a number of professional and corporate visions, providing direction for companies that are squatting at LED plant lighting.
1. Intelligent home plant cultivation system refers to the combination of mobile terminal and WIFI network to realize remote control and dimming timing automatic mode to meet some families who need quality life. However, for the intelligent family cultivation system, Professor Xu Zhigang does not think it is simple. “It is more complicated for indoor households because it involves not only the light source but the whole growth system. It needs other aspects. This way is stable, There is still a process of maturity."
Shenzhen Panke Chen Chen and Professor Xu Zhigang hold different views. He believes that it is not difficult for plant lighting to enter urban families in the future. “Plant cultivation into the family can not only purify the air quality, but also enjoy the farmhouse and eat healthy crops. Relatively speaking, a family hydroponic equipment is equivalent to the cost of a mobile phone, if there is a pursuit of quality of life. And won't care about the price."
2, plant factories, large fruit plant lighting, this will be a very huge market, especially in areas where land resources are scarce, can achieve three-dimensional agriculture, try to take up less space, to achieve centralized operations.
3, personalized ornamental plant lighting, suitable for office, home, public places, mini LED plant lights, add visual enjoyment, for a busy city Daren, this is undoubtedly a good relaxation environment.
4. Planting in high value-added artificial environment.
5, customized design, that is, according to different requirements of customers to customize the spectral proportion, function, size, appearance. At present, the technology of custom spectroscopy has been achieved, that is, the price has not yet fallen.
"We believe that plant lighting is developing in the direction of investment value and maximum benefit." Xu Dong, director of Foshan Haoliang Solid Light Source Research Institute, is the core summary of the development direction of LED plant lighting.
