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The light-emitting principle of LED lights
The LED lamp was invented by the Japanese Nakamura Shuji in 1994. After the improvement in 2014, the luminous efficiency was greatly improved. Nakamura Shuji also won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics for this invention, and his invention soon Entered the lighting market.
The lighting principle of LED is very complicated. All matter in the world is composed of molecules or atoms. Molecules are combined atoms, and atoms are disassembled molecules.
Atoms are divided into inner nuclei and outer electrons. Atoms combine with other atoms to form molecules through the change of electrons, and then form substances. One of the combinations of atoms is called a covalent bond combination, in which everyone takes out the electrons and uses them together to form a stable outer electronic structure.
The principle of LED light emission is to allow electrons to enter a covalent bond that lacks electrons, through which electrons enter the covalent bond to emit light, and the excess energy of free electrons is directly converted into light energy and extremely small heat energy.
The advantages and disadvantages of LED lights
Most of the lights used in our lives use electricity to emit light through gas. On the one hand, the gas itself has a large electrical resistance. On the other hand, the vaporization of many metal materials requires a certain high temperature, so many lights in our daily life will produce obvious Of heat. However, LEDs directly release light energy through free electrons in the solid. The resistance of the solid itself is much smaller. In addition, the energy released by the free electrons is basically light energy. The LED lighting effects suitable for the material are all above 150lm/w. It is said to be the most efficient lighting equipment so far. The earliest LEDs emit blue light. By changing the semiconductor material and applying phosphor powder on the surface of the LED chip, the amplitude of the photons is changed, that is, the color of the light is changed, which greatly enriches the spectrum of the LED and allows the LED to customize the spectrum.
However, LEDs also have limitations, because electrons emit light through solids. In order to prevent excessive energy from changing the properties of solid materials, each LED light-emitting chip has a maximum power limit. The power of a single LED wick is much lower than that of high-intensity discharge lamps. The material suitable for the chip is also expensive, which also creates an ultra-long life of up to 100,000 hours of LED.
Application of LED lights in cannabis cultivation
In the past year or two, LEDs have been widely used in growing cash crops, such as hemp. LED manufacturers add light-emitting chips to superimpose light intensity, and change the material to meet the spectrum required by plants, and produce grow lights suitable for all kinds of plants.
Many cannabis growers have started to use LEDs to grow cannabis. It is very safe, energy-saving and efficient, and can achieve good results with a small amount of electricity. The disadvantage is that it is expensive. There are currently four main types of LED lights on the market for growing hemp.
Traditional panel
Equipped with medium-efficiency light-emitting chips, the distance between the bulbs is compact, a constant current device and a cooling fan are equipped on the back, and the whole is wrapped in a shell. This is the mainstream of LED planting lights now, and the ones with good reputation are this style.
Quantum Edition
Manufacturers use smaller and cheaper chips to reduce costs, and use a large number of stacks to meet light intensity. There is an aluminum heat sink on the back to dissipate heat, which is smaller in size, lighter in weight, and lower in price, but the light effect is the same, and the quality is low.
Spider version
Using a chip with a little more power than the quantum version, separates a larger distance, strengthens the heat dissipation of the circuit and the bulb, and basically does not need to be equipped with any heat dissipation accessories. This style is much stronger, the output is very satisfying, and the price is more expensive.
Big bulb version
The use of extra-large light-emitting chips to emit light greatly enhances the light effect, and is equipped with excellent lenses to ensure that the light can spread evenly on the plants, and is equipped with better heat dissipation. The manufacturer will also equip this kind of lamp with automatic switch, remote switch, automatic heat dissipation, and automatic adjustment of the light cycle. The highest price.
When buying LED lights, we don’t need to pay much attention to the spectrum, the merchant knows what you are buying for. The key point is to look at the material of the LED chip. The better the chip, the greater the light intensity and the longer the lifespan. It should also be noted that there are many overcharging on the market. There is no LED lamp with high light intensity and low price. The price of LED lamp is usually between 150USD and 500USD. The life of LED lights is very long, but its light-emitting process is a process of changing chemical bonds, a process of chemical reaction, all chemical reactions will accumulate substances that hinder the chemical reaction, just like rechargeable batteries, the light intensity will decay with time. The greater the power of the wick, the slower the attenuation, the smaller the power, the faster the attenuation.
All in all, LED lights save energy but not money.
Famous LED manufacturers in the world include CREE from the United States, OSRAM and Agilent from Germany, NICHIA, ToyodaGosei, TOSHIBA and so on from Japan.
But the LEDs produced by some Chinese manufacturers are also not bad, many are transformed from foundry.
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