Adaptive control approach for LEDs can reduce energy costs

Supplemental lighting in greenhouses is often needed for year-round production of high-quality crops. However, the electricity needed for supplemental lighting can account for a substantial part of overall production costs.

The objective of a new study was to develop more efficient control methods for supplemental lighting, taking advantage of the dimmability of light-emitting diode (LED) grow lights. Researchers compared 14 hours per day of full power supplemental LED lighting to two other treatments:

turning the LEDs on, at full power, only when the ambient photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) dropped below a specific threshold, and
adjusting the duty cycle of the LEDs so that the LED lights provided only enough supplemental PPF to reach a preset threshold PPF.

This threshold PPF was adjusted daily from 50 to 250 μmol·m−2·s−1. Turning the LED lights on at full power and off based on a PPF threshold was not practical since this at times resulted in the lights going on and off frequently. Adjusting the duty cycle of the LED lights based on PPF measurements underneath the light bar provided excellent control of PPF, with 5-minute averages typically being within 0.2 μmol·m−2·s−1 of the threshold PPF.

Continuously adjusting the duty cycle of the LED lights reduced electricity use by 20% to 92%, depending on the PPF threshold and daily light integral (DLI) from sunlight. Simulations based on net photosynthesis (An) − PPF response curves indicated that there are large differences among species in how efficiently supplemental PPF stimulates An. When there is little or no sunlight, An of Heuchera americana is expected to increase more than that of Campanula portenschlagiana when a low level of supplemental light is provided.

Conversely, when ambient PPF >200 μmol·m−2·s−1, supplemental lighting will have little impact on An of H. americana, but can still results in significant increases in An of C. portenschlagiana (1.7 to 6.1 μmol·m−2·s−1 as supplemental PPF increases from 50 to 250 μmol·m−2·s−1). Adjusting the duty cycle of the LEDs based on PPF levels assures that supplemental light is provided when plants can use that supplemental light most efficiently. Implementing automated duty cycle control of LED grow lights is simple and low cost. This approach can increase the cost effectiveness of supplemental lighting, because of the associated energy savings.

Access the full study at HortScience