If you’re considering setting up an indoor garden or engaging in horticulture, the primary tool you need is LED grow lighting. These lights emit specific light spectra, mainly red and blue wavelengths, which play a crucial role in influencing plant growth. While alternatives like fluorescent and HID grow lights exist, LED stands out as the superior choice due to its customizable nature, long lifespan, low heat emission, environmental benefits, and high energy efficiency.
In today’s blog post, we will discuss the working principle of LED grow lights. Let’s begin this discussion without any further delay.
What Are LED Grow Lights?
Named after their construction, LED grow lights employ modern and efficient LED chips to generate light that supports plant growth. LED grow lights find extensive application in industrial-scale farming and can also be employed in horticulture, plant propagation, indoor gardening, food production, and residential settings. They are warmly welcomed because of their ability to generate the highest levels of PAR among various lighting technologies.
How A Light-Emitting Diode Works
A LED is a semiconductor device that generates light when an electric current flows through it. Semiconductors are typically composed of materials with poor electrical conductivity, such as silicon. By adding impurities, which is called “doping”, they become more conductive.
Semiconductors possess conductive properties in one direction only, meaning they don’t conduct electricity when the current is reversed. This characteristic is why they’re referred to as semiconductors.
There are two layers, each doped with distinct impurities. One layer comprises n-type material, named so due to its negative charge, resulting from an excess of electrons. Commonly used impurities like phosphorus or arsenic have five electrons, leaving one electron free when introduced into silicone with its 4 electrons.
The other layer, called p-type material, bears a positive charge due to a shortage of electrons. Frequently employed impurities like boron or gallium contain just three electrons. When added to silicon, the absence of a fourth electron creates a “hole.”
By placing n-type and p-type materials adjacent to each other, free electrons in the n-type material have the potential to occupy the holes in the p-type material. This interaction happens in a region known as the depletion zone.
However, this process takes place exclusively under specific conditions: a positive charge is applied to the p-type material and a negative charge is applied to the n-type material. The positive charge propels positive particles towards the middle (the depletion zone) to engage with the negative particles on the n-type side, also driven toward the middle by the negative charge.
When electrons encounter electron holes, they discharge energy as photons, leading to the emission of light. The color of the emitted light is determined by the amount of energy required for electrons to traverse the gap (depletion zone) within the semiconductor.
How Does LED Light Work As A Grow Light?
A single semiconductor diode possesses limited strength. However, when numerous diodes are combined, they yield a notably intense point of light, exemplified by the LED chips employed in grow lights. Even the smallest diodes exhibit substantial potency, while larger variants such as COB LEDs emit an exceptionally bright light.
An LED fixture involves multiple larger diodes, and each of these diodes comprises numerous small light sources. This design offers the capability to blend diverse colors of light within the same fixture, which is a distinct advantage of LED grow lights. This feature grants you the flexibility to attain the ideal spectrum recipe for optimal indoor growing.
How Does An LED Grow Light Work?
To comprehend the working principle of LED grow lights, it’s essential to grasp the mechanism of photosynthesis in plants.
Role of Sunlight in Photosynthesis
Sunlight contributes immensely to the photosynthesis process for plant growth. Within the plant’s chloroplast, a distinct range of light wavelengths from sunlight is absorbed. This absorption triggers the generation of high-energy electrons, which subsequently participate in the creation of more stable energy. This energy is utilized to merge carbon dioxide, yielding carbohydrates. These carbohydrates function as the nourishing source or energy reserve that facilitates plant growth. And LED grow lights follow this very mechanism.
LED Grow Lights Replicate Sunlight
LEDs employ semiconductor materials to replicate the illuminating qualities of sunlight. These semiconductors exist in two forms: positively charged (referred to as a “hole”) and negatively charged (known as an “electron”). When an appropriate voltage is applied, these holes and electrons collide, triggering a process known as recombination. This collision results in the release of energy in the form of photons. Plants’ chlorophyll absorbs this emitted light, which is subsequently utilized to convert light energy into carbohydrates through photosynthesis.
However, various plant species necessitate different light spectra to initiate their photosynthesis processes. Each of these light spectra exerts unique effects on plant growth. While red and blue lights are commonly employed for typical plant growth, incorporating additional colors such as green and far-red can yield notable outcomes in plant growth. LED grow lights, especially full spectrum light, is designed to meet the demanding needs in the different growth stage with their variable spectrum.
Why Do Your Plants Need LED Grow Lights?
LED grow lights serve a vital role in winter when natural light is diminished, necessitating supplementary lighting. For indoor plant cultivation, like growing succulents or ornamental plants, grow lights are crucial to fine-tune the light spectrum, enhancing the plants’ aesthetic growth.
When cultivating off-season or greenhouse plants, both light intensity and duration of light profoundly impact crop growth. In instances where light intensity falls below the crop’s compensation point, the pace of organic matter production through photosynthesis can’t match consumption, leading to hindered growth and potential fatality. Inadequate light conditions result in elongated and feeble plant growth. Cloudy and hazy weather exacerbates this issue, significantly reducing the photosynthetic rate and inviting pests and diseases, culminating in substantial losses.
The Bottom Line
Indoor planting dramatically benefits from the use of grow lights, and among various technologies, LED stands out as the most superior.
In its initial phases, LED technology was seen as less practical. However, recent advancements have made LED grow light both economically viable and efficient. Furthermore, the various LED chip types have significantly enhanced the efficiency of plant cultivation. LED grow lights can be adjusted to emit a cool, bluish light during the vegetative growth stage and then switched to a warm, reddish-orange light for the flowering phase.
At MokoLight, we provide options for customization, ODM, and OEM services, along with a three-year warranty. For state-of-the-art LED grow lights, look no further than us! Let’s talk!
