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When you are looking for some LED light strips to decor your house, you may find thousands of LED strips with different working voltages such as 5V and 12V on Amazon, eBay, and other websites of LED strip suppliers. Do you feel confused by so many different specs and don't know how to choose? In this article, we'll introduce their difference and let you know which is better for you.
1. Materials/ Components
Most of the components of the 5V LED strips and 12V LED strips are universal except the printed circuit board, aka PCB. Generally, the cutting unit of the 12V PCB contains 3 SMD LEDs and 1 resistor, and that of the 5V PCB is 1 SMD LED and 1 resistor. The minimum cutting length of the 5V LED strip is much shorter, which means that it's more likely to suit the specific length you need.
2. Input voltage
The power supply is a device that provides electrical energy to the LED strips. The output voltage of the power supply is constant. At the same power, the higher the voltage, the lower the current. And the lower the current, the longer the LED strip can be connected in series. Therefore, the 12V LED strip is more convenient for installation. But the 5V LED strips also have an advantage that is they can be driven by USB ports and batteries.
3. Applications
The 5V LED strips can be used to decor our TV background, computers, etc., for these devices can supply power to the LED strips through the USB ports. And the 5V LED strips are widely used in bike, skids, and other portable items, with a batteries pack. Oppositely, the 12V LED light strips are more suitable for large decoration lighting, such as ceiling, bed, wall, roof, and so on, for it is more stable and durable.
According to the comparison and description above, you can know which is better for your projects. If you have any questions about LED lighting, welcome to contact us. Shenzhen Mailederun Technology Co., Ltd. (MLDR®)
COB (chip on board) is not a new manufacturing technology and has been applying in the lighting industry for tens of years. But it's just a few years since the tech has been used to produce LED strips. Due to there is always a gap between SMD (surface mount device) LEDs, it's hard to form a continuous and uniform light track without a diffuser. However, the COB LED strip doesn't have this problem. The COB LED strip's diodes are directly mounted on the PCB (print circuit board) without the package, which makes it can be mounted with more chips than the SMD LED strips.
MLDR®'s new COB LED tape light has 512 pieces of chips per meter, and the fluorescent resin is continuous cover the chips, forming an uninterrupted lighting strip. This product fills a gap in the high-end residential and commercial light strips market and marks an innovation in the line of LED light strips. The product is now available on the website (www.mldrled.com).
The representative of Shenzhen Mailederun Technology Co., Ltd. said: "We believe that COB is the direction of light strip development, with the improvement of processing technology and related supply system, the COB LED strips are expected to replace the high-density strip lights' market in next few years".
Dual-white LED tape light, as its name implies, is a light strip that has two color temperatures. There are 2 different color LEDs on the PCB (print circuit board), and 2 independent circuits that are connected to different colored LEDs. So that you can switch the light's color and adapt their brightness separately. The picture below is the dual white LED tape light with a product number of R2835-SSW120, we can see that it's made of warm white and white SMD 2835 LEDs. In addition to these 2 colors, it can as well as provide daylight (4000 Kelvin) by the composition of warm white and white. Having 3 color temperature options, the dual white LED strip can improve the flexibility of both residential and commercial lighting.
2835 dual white LED tape
1. The methods to realize dual white/ dual color
Generally, there are two kinds of methods to achieve dual color in an LED strip. The first one is mounting 2 different color LEDs on a PCB (the 2835 dual white LED strip above is a typical example). The next one is using the 2-in-1 dual-color SMD LEDs. This kind of SMD LED has 2 colors.
2 in 1 SMD LED
2. Dual-white and RGB, which is better
I have to say that there is no fixed answer to this question. They are two products designed for different applications. RGB LED strips can realize more colors, while the dual white LED strip's white light is purer and has higher brightness. Therefore, if you want to decorate your home with comfortable light, you should take the dual white LED strip into consideration. And if you want to add some dynamic to your home, the RGB LED strip will be more suitable.
3. How to install the dual white LED tape light
Like other low voltage LED strips, the dual white LED strip needs to be driven by the AC-DC power supply. To achieve color changing, dimming, and dynamic effects, a dual white controller is requested to install between the light and power supply. Most dual-color LED strips are 3 pins (1 positive pole and 2 negative poles) or 4 pins (2 positive poles and 2 negative poles), and they are a little different in the wiring.
To summarize, dual-white LED strips can provide pure white lights and more CCT options. It's widely used in residences, hotels, signages, mirrors, and so on.
LED strip lights have replaced traditional lamps as the main light source of residential lighting, decorative lighting, advertising light-boxes, commercial lighting, and so on. The quality of the LED strips is one of the most important metrics. In this article, let's take the MFS3030A LED STRIP LIGHT as an example to introduce 3 components that determine the quality of LED strip lights.
1. Light source
MFS3030A is an LED light strip designed for lightbox display and stretch ceiling. Generally, the light source of the LED strip is the SMD LEDs, which directly determines the brightness, light color, power, lifespan, and most of the performances of the finished product. In order to meet the specific requirement of light intensity of advertising displaying and commercial lighting, the SMD 3030 LEDs, a high-power LED light source built-in 3 diodes, is adopted. And the excellent light source is the key to high durability and long life.
2. PCB
PCB is one of the main components of LED strips. As we all know, a high power light source also brings more heat. Therefore, we have to take the heat sink capacity into consideration when designing the PCB. The aluminum-substrate PCB became the perfect partner for the high-power SMD LEDs, its excellent heat conductivity can effectively improve the overheating and reduce the light decay of the light source. So we could say that the PCB's quality is directly related to the quality of LED strips.
3. Lens/ diffuser
To achieve specific lighting performance or adjusting the beam angle, diffuser covers and optical lenses are mounted on the LED light strips. These components directly cover the LEDs and will affect their original lighting quality. In consequence, the quality of the lenses and diffusers, such as transparency, shape, and uniformity, has a big impact on the performance of LED strips.
As a China LED strip supplier, Shenzhen Mailederun Technology Co., Ltd. (MLDR®) is committed to manufacturing high quality LED lighting. The MFS3030A backlit LED strip is made of high-quality SMD 3030 LEDs, rigid aluminum PCB, high-transparency 175° PMMA lenses, and other excellent materials ensuring the excellent light performance and durability. It's suitable for the lightbox display and stretch ceiling.
Lighting is already an integral part of interior design. Different
lighting can create different moods and atmospheres. The same space, if
different lighting methods, different positions, angular directions,
different lamp shapes, different light intensity, and color can obtain a
variety of visual-spatial effects.
The indoor lighting source of the house should consider the light effect, color rendering index (CRI), lifespan, as well as the overall color of the house. Given the energy-saving and environmental protection, LED lights should be given priority. At the same time, it is necessary to use a light source with high CRI; the higher the CRI, the more similar the light is to natural light. Ra90+ will be preferred,
with a minimum of Ra80. Color temperature is the key to create an atmosphere. When the color temperature of the light source is low, the light color appears dark, which makes people feel warm, peaceful, and relax. On the contrary, it creates a cool and refreshing atmosphere.
Residential lighting should also reflect the contours of the interior
structure, the spatial level and the three-dimensional sense of interior
furniture and decorative objects.
Lighting design for living room
The living room is a common activity venue for the whole family. The
lighting in the living room has two functions, practical and decorative.
The layout and selection of the lamps in the hall should be fully
determined according to the color of the furniture and decoration of the
residents. Generally, the chandeliers can be set at the top of the
center, and the number of downlights can be set at different edges. The
surrounding walls can be provided with fancy LED wall lights in
appropriate positions. LED strip lights can be used in the ceiling and
TV background wall for decoration. The main light can be chandelier or
LED panel light, which depending on the style of personal preference.
Bedroom lighting needs to meet a variety of requirements. The
luminaires don’t have to be too light. The main lighting source should
be designed to not too strong or whitish. It is recommend to use the
warm white or neutral white, which will make the bedroom feel warmer.
Bedside lamps can be provided for easy reading. Partial lighting on the
dressing table and closet can be easily installed, and the lighting
should not be too strong, so it should be close to natural light.
Bedroom Lighting
Indoor lighting design has become an essential factors in interior
design with room layout, color, shape, materials, and so on. The indoor
lighting design must meet the lighting design technical standards and
corresponding design specifications to meet the requirements of people’s
visual functions. It must also fully consider people’s aesthetic needs
and meet their visual psychological requirements, thus creating
beautiful work and life for people.
International protection rating, aka IP rating and IP code, is a standard for dust and water resistance. In the grading standard, IPxx is the symbol of protection level, in which xx is a two-digit number, the first position indicates the rating of protection against solids, and the second position indicates the rating of protection against liquids. The solid protection grade has 7 grades, which are represented by 0-6 respectively; the liquid protection grade has 9 grades, which are represented by 0-8 respectively. Hereinafter is the meaning of the IP ratings for LED lights.
The level of dustproof (the meaning of the first digit).
0: No special protection.
1: Prevent large solids greater than 50mm.
2: Prevent medium-sized solids greater than 12.5mm.
3: Prevent small solids greater than 2.5mm.
4: Prevent solids greater than 1mm.
5: Prevent dust accumulation.
6: Completely dust-protected.
The level of waterproof (the meaning of the second digit).
0: No special protection.
1: Prevent vertically falling water droplets.
2: Prevent vertically falling drops of water into a 15 degree sloped shell.
3: Prevent drops of water spray from an angle of 60 degrees.
4: Prevent drops of water in all directions.
5: Prevent jets of water.
6: Prevent powerful water jets and waves.
7: Can be immersed in water for less than 30 minutes at a depth of less than one meter.
8: Can be immersed in water for a long time under a certain pressure.
For the LED lighting industry, the regular IP ratings are IP20, IP65, IP67, and IP68. Take LED strips for example.
IP20: The LED light strip is not treated with any waterproofing and can only be used indoors or sealed environments.
IP65: The surface of the LED strip is covered with a layer of silicone glue to protect the electronic components from dust and rain.
IP67: The LED strip is covered with a silicone tube. It can be used outdoors, and underwater for a short period.
IP68: IP68 waterproof LED strip can be used underwater for a long time.
IP ratings for LED strip lights
At this point, someone might ask which is better, IP20, IP65, IP67, or IP68. Should we use the highest grade IP68? To be honest, the higher the level of protection, the higher the processing cost, the higher the price of the product. The IP rating should be chosen according to the service environments. IP20 is the most suitable and economical for indoors. IP65 and IP67 can meet most outdoor environments. And if you are looking for LED lights for pools or underwater environments, the IP68 is here.
RGBand RGBWis a couple of words that we commonly see and hear in the LED lighting industry. Today we are gonna review the RGB LED and RGBW LED, and find their difference.
RGB and RGBW LED Strip Lights
Combin 3 diodes (red, green, and blue) in 1 SMD chip, the RGB LED can realize color changing. To achieve better white light, adding a white light diode on the RGB LED, that's we call RGBW LED. So, RGBW is an RGB LED with an additional white light diode (the packaging process is far more complicated).
Through the controller, RGB and RGBW LEDs can switch from different colors, such as white, red, green, blue, pink, yellow, cyan, and so on. However, having an extra white light diode make the RGBW LED has a brighter and more pure white light performance. And according to the additional diode's color, there are also have RGBWW (RGB+ warm white), RGBCW (RGB+ cool white), and RGBNW (RGB+ neutral white), which can give you more choice.
To further introduce the difference between RGB and RGBW LEDs, we'd like to take the LED strips for example. The RGBW LED strip has 4 independent control circuits, and the RGB LED strip has 3. Therefore, we can visually note that the RGBW remote is more complicated than the RGB remote, and has more functions. From the connector, we can easier distinguish RGBW LED strip (5 pins) and RGB LED strip (4 pins).
Now, we learned that compared to the RGB LED, the RGBW LED has better white light performance, more color choices, and more functions. So can we conclude that the RGBW LED is better for buy? No, there is another important factor that we haven't take into account. As mentioned at the end of the second paragraph, the processes of RGBW LEDs are far more complicated than that of RGB LEDs. And the complex processes make the cost increase to the price. In today's market, the RGBW LED is several times more expensive than the RGB LED. To sum it up, RGBW LED lights are the better choice if you or your customers are strict in the white light performance and have enough budget. Opposite, if you just want to make rooms or restaurants more colorful, the RGB LED light can meet your satisfaction, and more cost-effective.
At the end of last month, Fluence, Osram subsidiary, announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement with AgMedica, the licensed medical cannabis grower in Canada. Sources said Fluence will be the exclusive supplier of cultivated LED lighting system for AgMedica's world-class vertical plant facilities. The LED grow light system is going to be used to provide the light the cannabis needs in the growth.
LED grow lights for cannabis growth
Gregory Gawne, senior vice president of business development at AgMedica, said through the cooperation with Osram in the professional agricultural LED lighting, AgMedica is able to enhance the yield of high-quality cannabis exponentially on the basis of original planting area and supply consistent and quality drugs for patients. With the help of advanced LED lighting system, the company can also effectively control the development and production of secondary metabolites such as terpenes and flavonoids to meets the company's strict standards.
LED strip, also known as led tape light, is one of the most popular linear decorative lighting fixtures for homes, shops, supermarkets, hotels, etc. Due to most of the LED strips' input voltage is 12V DC or 24V DC, they can't be directly connected to the 110V AC or 220V AC. So we need a power supply to transfer the high voltage AC to low voltage DC. Now let's see how to install LED strip and power supply.
Please note that the power must be cut off before installation to avoid the
risk of electric shock.
1. Power supply wiring
Here is a typical power supply which inputs 100V to 220V AC and outputs 12V DC. As you can see from the picture below, the first and second interfaces are the high voltage input, and the third interface is the ground electrode. The first step is to connect the power cord to the input ends and tighten them with the screwdriver.
Install Power Supply
2. LED strip wiring In general, the red wire is the anode of the LED strip and the black wire is the cathode, which should be connected to V+ and V- of the output ends of power supply accordingly. The colors of the wires of the LED strip may be different from the different models or suppliers.
Install LED Light Strip
Power on, the LED strip will be lit up. If the LED strip does not work, it may be the wires are reversed, we can reverse two wires of the LED strip and try again.
Lit Up
Above is the simple installation and connection of the regular single-color LED strip light and power supply.
Shenzhen Mailederun Technology Co., Ltd. (MLDR®) is a professional LED strip lights manufacturer in China, supplying all kinds of LED strips and accessories.
In Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, a large plant factory, which has been operating since 2014, covers an area of about 5,000 square meters and produces four salad vegetables.
Katashi Kai, general manager of the factory's operations department, said that the biggest advantage of using LED grow lights is that they can guarantee stable production and supply throughout the year, independent of climate and environment. The cultivation management and hygiene control methods completely eliminate dust, insect pests, and foreign matter pollution, and can produce high quality and safe vegetables without using pesticides.
In the early days of its establishment, the factory used traditional fluorescent lamps as the light sources. But the fluorescent lamps have various problems. For example, the heat generated by fluorescent lamps can burn plant leaves, and the fluorescent light has a short decay period, and the fluorescent lamps have a risk of causing pollution of foreign matter. Kai said: "LED lights do not have such problems or risks. Therefore, we decided to replace the fluorescent lamps with LED plant grow lights, in the medium and long-term operation, the use of LED lighting can greatly reduce operating costs."
The LED lights were fully utilized in the factory in 2017. Compared to the previous, the electricity cost of the factory was reduced by about 40%, and the growth rate of vegetables was increased by 20% to 30%. Higher growth rates mean higher yields in the facility, lower production costs, and no change in the taste and nutrient content of the vegetables.
Backlight LED light strip is designed as the backlit light source for thin advertising light boxes with a thickness of 3 to 15cm. MLDR®, a China's lighting company, introduced the MFS3030 series of LED backlit strip in 2017. After years of development, there are a variety of specifications of MFS3030 backlit LED strip lights, such as input voltage (12V and 24V DC) and colors (cool white, white, warm white, red, green, blue, etc.).
Fabric ceiling
MFS3030 series LED strip lights are made of high thermal conductivity PCB, high bright SMD 3030 LED, and the high transparent lenses. Thanks to its ultra-wide beam angle of 175 degrees, the MFS3030 backlight strips are able to achieve better light efficiency than conventional LED strips in fewer numbers in ultra-thin light boxes. Without a doubt, the cost of the project will decrease as the number of LED strips is reduced. With the increasing demand for outdoor advertising light boxes, the IP65 waterproof LED strip backlight come into being.
Not only in the field of the backlit lightbox, but MFS3030 LED strip backlight is also used in the fabric ceilings, fake windows, signboards and so on.
If you've ever bought or read about LED strip lights, you've probably been impressed by these numbers (models), 2835, 3825, 5630, 5050, etc. Actually, the meaning of these numbers is very simple.
Fundamentally, all of these numbers are the models of SMD (Surface Mounted Diode) LEDs, representing their sizes. Take SMD 2835 LED as an example, 2835 means its length and the width of the LED is 2.8mm and 3.5mm. SMD LED is a kind of semiconductor light source that directly mounted on the LED light strip, having characteristics of high brightness, low power consumption, and good workability.
Normally, the larger the sizes of the SMD LED, the higher the lumens and the better the heat dissipation. But, there also have exceptions. Let's compare the RU5050 LED strip and RU5630 LED strip these two LED flexible strip lights. Obviously, the RU5050's SMD 5050 LED light source is larger than the SMD 5630 LED of RU5630. However, in fact, the RU5630's brightness is higher than that of the RU5050, that is caused by the 5630's chip size is relatively bigger. But SMD 5050 LED has more excellent heat dissipation performance, which makes the LED light strip working more stable. Even the brightness of the same model of SMD LEDs may not be the same, which involves the materials, processes, and rated power.
You should know the meaning of these number of LED strip lights and their main differences by now. MLDR® is a professional LED light strip manufacturer in China, aiming to provide reliable LED lighting products to customers all over the world.
In today's market, due to the product names haven't been standardized, the names of various LED light strips are a bit confusing. According to the input voltage, LED strip lights can be classified into high voltage LED strip lights and low voltage strip lights. Due to the high-volt LED strip are commonly sealed by protection tube, which makes it look like a rope so that LED Rope Light is its another well-known name. Therefore, in this post, we are actually talking about the difference between high and low voltage LED strip lights.
LED rope light i.e. high voltage LED light strip is a flexible LED light fixture directly driven by high voltage alternating current without the adaptor. The rope light is completely wrapped in the insulating sleeve, for its high working voltage is dangerous. Although it will result in the light strips' sizes increasing, it also improves their dust and water protection rating. In addition, the high voltage AC direct driving mode can save a lot of cost of power supplies, and let the LED strip can be connected longer length in series. In order to control the heat production, high voltage strips' power cannot be high as the low voltage strips, resulting in the relatively low brightness.
Low voltage LED strips are commonly driven by direct currents, such as 5V, 12V, 24V, etc, having really high safety and stability. The regular low-volt lights have no waterproof processing, their PCB direct expose in the air, which makes them have a good heat dissipation performance. Of course, they can also be manufactured to IP65, IP67, IP68 waterproof for outdoor use. Thanks to the excellent heat dissipating efficiency, low voltage LED strips can use higher power of SMD light sources and achieve higher brightness.
These are the main differences between the rope light and LED strip. MLDR ® is a LED lighting manufacturer, producing and selling all kinds of LED light strips.
A typical 12V LED light strip is basically formed by a plurality of light groups in which three SMD LED beads are connected in series. In an ideal situation, the voltage input to each group of LED beads should be 12V, but in actual use, the input voltage of the LED groups far from the power supply is less than 12V, resulting in their brightness is significantly lower than the LEDs that closer to the power supply. What caused this?
Voltage drop issue (from www.mldrled.com)
The main reason is that the copper foil circuit inside the LED strip has resistance. The power output from the power supply needs to go through a longer loop to reach the far-end light bar. As this distance increases, the power loss also increases, so the actual voltage input to the far end is not enough to fully drive the LED light. Similarly, if an improper wire is used in the circuit, the voltage drop will be aggravated.
It can be seen from the above that the root cause of the voltage drop phenomenon of the strip led light is the current loss in the circuit. Based on this principle, there are several ways to improve the problem.
1. Increase the thickness of the copper foil
The resistance of the conductor is related to the size of its cross-sectional area, so the use of thicker copper foil can reduce the resistance of the PCB and increase its ability to carry current. Although this method is effective, it will result in an increase in the cost and price of the lighting products.
2. Use a higher voltage LED light strips
In the case of the same power, the higher the voltage, the lower the current. Therefore, as the input voltage increases, the current in the strip circuit decreases accordingly, thereby reducing the current load of the PCB. This is why the maximum series length of the 24V strip is longer than 12V.
3. Install in parallel
We know that the longer the series length of the tape lights, the more obvious the voltage drop. Therefore, we can install a certain length of the strip in parallel to reduce the inconsistency of the first and last brightness caused by the series connection.
Not long ago, Lumileds released the new MultiColor Module 0.5W from its LUXEON LED lighting range, a mid-power, color-changing RGB LED bead. The LED uses the 3535 PLCC6 package standard and integrates three semiconductor light-emitting chips, red, green and blue, capable of producing 1,000 McD of red light, 2300 McD of green light, and 500 McD of blue light at 20 mA operating current. Industry data shows that this is one of the brightest RGB LED beads on the market today.
Lumileds 3535 RGB LED
The detection mechanism tests the LED in a hydrogen sulfide environment, and the result shows that the LED successfully maintains the luminous flux and forward voltage stability of the internal chip under the test environment, and has great reliability. According to Jennifer Holland, LUXEON product line director, Lumileds' reliable design and packaging technology is the key to the stability of this product. The LED's independent waterproof rating can reach 8 levels, suitable for outdoor advertising screens and decorative lighting.
Before we talk about how an RGB LED strip light works, what is an RGB LED. In the LED light strip industry, the most common RGB LED bead is SMD 5050 RGB LED, which has 3 chips with different colors, red, green, and blue. Various colors light can be obtained through the combination of the light of these three chips. In addition to decorative lighting, RGB LEDs are also applied to display screens, signal lamps, etc.
SMD 5050 RGB LED
RGB LED strip light is a lighting fixture in which RGB LEDs are mounted on the felxible or rigid strip PCB, mainly using for decorative lighting. Unlike the PCB of the normal white light LED lamp, the RGB PCB has 3 independent circuits that drive each chip, providing the physical basis for the color changing effect. In order to achieve multicolor lighting effects and dimming also need the external controller, adjusting the current of each circuit.
Multicolor LED strip lights are an irreplaceable part of the decorative lighting market for their colorful lighting effect and adjustability. Although the RGB strip lights have a good performance, they still can not completely replace the white light LED lights. Compare with color changing LED strips, white light LED strips have lower prices, higher brightness, and uniform white light effect.
According to the industry reports, Sanan Optoelectronics has more than a quarter of shares of the domestic LED chip production capacity in 2017. Based on the company's product structure, vertical integration of the industry chain and downstream customer dispersion, the company's gross profit margin is much higher than that of its main competitors. In terms of net profit, we found that the company's management costs, sales expenses, and financial cost control are both high in the industry, indicating that the company's management and operation standards are high, financing and low costs.
Supply-side capital expenditures, domestic enterprises have become the main force of expansion. With the constant expansion, the main large lighting enterprises will further monopoly the upstream semiconductor chip market, and the competition will also become more serious.
Sanan has advanced technologies and a large scale, which guarantee the company's high gross profit. At the same time, there is still room for improvement in large-scale production. Obviously, Sanan will maintain its leading position in the lighting industry for a long time to come.
After two consecutive years of decline in 2015 and 2016, LED chip prices have been basically stable. However, influenced by the market supply and demand, the prices will still fluctuate in the short term. For example, the collective large-scale expansion of leading LED lighting suppliers in 2018 led to another drop in chip price.
China's LED application scenarios continue to expand, and the market scale continues to increase. It is expected that the LED chip market in China will reach 22.56 billion yuan in 2018.
The semi-annual report for 2018 shows that in the first half of the year, Sanan Integrated achieved a revenue scale of 67 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of more than 1.5 times compared to the full year of 2017. Among them, Sanan integrated GaAs RF has contact with 103 customers, 58 customers have shipped, 14 customers have been mass-produced, product performance and stability have been well received by customers; GaN RF has achieved customer delivery As such, the initial performance has been recognized by customers; 5G mobile communication power amplifier chip project is in progress as planned; power electronic products have been verified by domestic and foreign customers and supplied in batches, and have entered mass production stage; optical communication chips have been sampled 26 pieces. Some products have been mass-produced and have been sold. It is expected that the profit prospects of Sanan Integration will be good in the future.
Not long ago, the German LED lighting giant Osram launched a new LED plant growth lighting system, named Phytofy RL. This lighting system is equipped with 6 individually controllable spectral channels to meet the research needs of researchers and institutions involved in plant growth. With the Phytofy RL system, users can change the color ratio and light intensity without changing the lamps to evaluate the growth of plants under different artificial light conditions.
LED grow lighting system
The six spectral channels of Phytofy RL are 385 nm, 450 nm, 521 nm, 660 nm, 730 nm, and 2,700 K warm white light. At the same time, the system is equipped with LED grow lights with extremely high luminous flux and uniform light distribution. Researchers can also use the system to precisely illuminate crops with specific wavelengths and intensity of light to selectively intervene in the metabolism of the crop, thereby controlling its yield, color, flavor, and other characteristics. After professional calibration, the system can also provide accurate illumination chart, eliminating the need to manually measure luminous flux. In addition, the system can also set different wavelength combinations in one illumination cycle.
Developed by OSRAM and plant biologists, this system software has an intuitive graphical interface that greatly facilitates user operations. The Phytofy RL system has been adopted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Michigan State University.
According to reports, Lumileds, a global lighting solutions company, has introduced the new 2835 series of SMD LED LUXEON 2835 HE, which has a luminous efficiency of up to 200 lm/W and a very high color consistency.
2835 SMD LED
This new LED emits more intensive light than the current mid-power LEDs on the market, and with the help of the MacAdam Elliptical Design Kit, the color consistency is at the highest level in the industry. When the input current is 65 mA, the luminous flux of the LED is 36 lm. As the input current rises, the luminous flux can be as high as 220 lm when the driving current is 480 mA.
For medium and high-end LED strips, bulbs, spotlights, etc., LUXEON 2835 HE is a very suitable light source, because of its high luminous efficiency, it can reach the high brightness with fewer lamp beads. And the high reliability of the LUXEON 2835 HE guarantees its longevity. The LUXEON 2835 HE's bead is available in a variety of color temperatures and CRI options for a wide range of lighting applications.
Not long ago, D+R International, the implementer of the LED Lighting Facts project, announced that it would phase out the project and chose to focus its work on other areas.
LED Lighting Facts services closure schedule
The project website is still accessible until December 31, 2019, but new user registrations and new product updates are no longer accepted. Prior to March 31, 2019, registered LED lighting manufacturers can submit new product listings and generate labels, and the remainder of the user's paid fees will be refunded.
The LED Lighting Facts project has been supported by the US Department of Energy and has a free policy. In February 2018, the official announced that it would close the project due to the impact of the Ministry of Energy's budget shrink. In May 2018, with the support of D+R International, LED Lighting Facts re-run and provided paid services to manufacturers and laboratories until now.
LED Lighting Facts have a great impact on the development of LED lighting industry, providing independent quality verification for LED lighting products.
According to the latest industrial research report, 2019 Lighting Grade Packaging and LED Lighting Market Outlook, the LED lighting market will be gradually increasing in size from 2018 to 2023. The CAGR is about 9% from 2018 to 2023, and the market size is expected to reach US$56.6 billion in 2023.
The market trends vary from region to region, and that of Europe, Southeast Asia, and India perform well.
The scale of the European LED lighting market continues to grow, reaching 8.292 billion US dollars in 2018, with a year-on-year growth rate of 9.5% and a penetration rate of over 50%. Among them, the growth kinetic energy of spotlights, filament lamps and decorative LED lighting used for commercial lighting are most remarkable.
1H18 American lighting manufacturers have bright revenue performance, and the main revenue comes from the US market. Under the influence of the tariffs imposed by the Sino-US trade war and the increase in the price of raw materials, the cost is expected to be passed on to consumers.
The Japanese market has a higher unit price and the Japanese economy is starting to pick up. The impact of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will keep the Japanese market growing.
Southeast Asia is gradually developing into a highly dynamic LED lighting market. Thanks to the rapid growth of the local economy, the large investment in infrastructure and large population, there is a great demand for lighting. The penetration rate of LED lighting in the Middle East and Africa market is rapidly increasing, and the market potential in the future is still expected.
Long-term outlook for the 2019-2020 lighting market trend, the three major opportunities will become the growth momentum of lighting manufacturers, one for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic lighting needs; the second is DLC V5.0 to improve light quality and luminous efficiency, will have the opportunity to re-emerge Improve the requirements of the high-end lighting market.
In addition, the most important thing is that lighting manufacturers expand the combination of different industries to create business opportunities. Currently, there are markets such as architectural smart lighting, human lighting, plant lighting, fishery lighting, stadium lighting, and special lighting.
In order to improve the lighting conditions for the plants of cucumber and tomato in the greenhouse, Plessy launched a new model of LED strip grow light, designed for installation in vegetation. In the greenhouse, due to the occlusion of leaves on the top, the lower plants will lack lighting. The strip LED light can provide enough lighting for the part of plants that the sunlight hard to reach. Not only for the greenhouse, but also for the closed plant factory that using hanging LED grow lights, this LED strip will be a good auxiliary lighting source.
led strip grow lights for greenhouse
The tube design makes the LED strip has a larger emitting angle and higher lighting penetration, which, additionally, increase the performance of the lighting. Moreover, there are also have a heating channel inside the LED light tube, providing proper heat to promote plant growth. As the additional lighting, the grow light LED strip can help the greenhouse maximize the output and economic benefit.
Lately, Cree launched their new two models of LEDs, XLamp XP-E2 Photo Red (660 nm) and XP-E2 Far Red (730 nm), which are used in the LED grow light. These LEDs have higher lighting effects that can shorten the payback period, and reduce the planting cost under LED lighting.
XP-E2 series is the upgrade version of XP series agricultural LED lighting, having the same mechanical and optic property as the previous generation. In addition, compared with the XP series, the brightness of Far Red LED increase 57%, and that of the Photo Red LED is 21%. The new generation of products reached the top of the industrial level.
Claude Demby, the Manager of Cree LED said that the specific LEDs such as architectural lighting and agricultural lighting are the part of Cree's product strategy. The Photo Red and Far Red full spectrum LED grow light can save more than half of electricity than the HPS plant light. The promotion of agricultural LED lighting is the Cree's promise, that is providing the advanced high power and high performance LED.
It's reported that the farmers in the UK, Netherland, and Belgium have roundly used the LED plant light as the main light source of large indoor planting facilities. As the LED grow light manufacturer, we've been cooperating with the top brand light source supplier like Cree to improve our products.
In recent years, with the continuous improvement of the people's pursuit of high-quality life, and the upstream industries such as LED plant growth lights and the agricultural intelligent systems have developed rapidly, the cost of various facilities and equipment has gradually declined. The development of artificial lighting plant factories has entered a golden period.
Plant Factory refers to plant cultivation systems that fully or partially control the environmental conditions to make the plant growth unaffected by the natural environment. Its main features are that the planting space is closed, the artificial light completely replaces the sunlight, the production cycle is short, etc. In addition, many countries are scrambling to study space farming technologies. In November 2016, Chinese astronauts brought a miniature LED plant factory into space and conducted a number of experiments in the Tiangong-2 Space Lab.
Xicui Plant Factory is one of the first large-scale commercial vertical plant factories in China. Its industrial crop production process and innovative agricultural production methods are examples of high-tech agriculture in the future. As the industry's leading indoor full artificial light vertical farm, the Xicui Plant Factory uses the computer to accurately control key environmental factors in plant growth, so that plant growth is not affected by climate and geographical conditions. The full-circle-controlled growth conditions make it unnecessary to apply any pesticides for the cultivation of vegetables in the Xicui plant; 12 layers of dense planting, extremely high land utilization; high-efficiency water saving, only 1/10 of the water used in traditional agriculture.
At present, the Xicui Plant Factory covers an area of 3,000-square-meter in Guanhu, Dapeng New District. The daily production capacity is around 10,000 dishes, and the products are positioned as high-end customers. According to the latest research of McKinsey Global Institute, the number of middle-income and above people in China reached 290 million in 2011. The annual per capita consumption of high-quality vegetables in this group reached 115 kg. The demand for high-quality vegetables will reach 33.35 million tons, and the output value will exceed 1006. 200 million yuan. The high-end vegetable market has huge space.
According to the report, some Chinese LED manufacturers are optimistic about the growth of the LED lighting market in 2019 and have resumed the capacity expansion plan that was suspended last year. Statistics show that the MOCVD equipment that originally planned to be installed and put into production last year can produce about 2 million wafers per month.
Last year, a Shenzhen lighting company planned to invest 438 million US dollars in Nanchang to build a LED chip factory to shorten the supply cycle and increase the production. However, due to the slowdown in industry growth in 2018 and the overall price decline, the company suspended the project at the end of last year. At present, the plan has been restarted, and the plant installation has been carried out in an orderly manner. It is expected that trial production will be available by the end of the third quarter of 2019.
Furthermore, many well-known Chinese chip manufacturers such as Sanan Optoelectronics, Huacan Optoelectronics, and Xiamen Ganzhao Optoelectronics also announced the corresponding increase in production plans. According to industry insiders, many suppliers have begun to deploy mini LEDs in addition to the expansion of traditional production lines, and the demand of mini LED is expected to increase significantly in the second half of 2019 or 2020.
Researchers at Penn State University in the United States have found that the luminous efficiency of LEDs can be improved by replicating the fire-emitting structure of fireflies.
Stuart (Shizhuo) Yin, an electrical engineering expert at Penn State University, pointed out that most commercial LEDs currently emit about 50% of their luminous efficiency. How to improve the so-called LED light extraction efficiency is one of the keys to research. They focus on how to extract from LEDs' Light.
LED asymmetric structure tech
The team found that light disappears when it is reflected backward, so fireflies and LEDs face similar challenges in releasing light. One solution for LEDs is to create a microstructure on its surface that is textured to reflect more light. However, the microstructure of most LED surfaces is symmetrical, with the same angle of inclination on each side.
Fireflies' lanterns also have microstructures, however, the researchers found that the microstructures were asymmetrical, with one side tilting at different angles. They also found that other insects that glowed had similar structures. In view of this, they decided to try to create a similar asymmetric structure on the LED surface.
Researchers have successfully created asymmetric microscopic pyramid structures on the LED surface to improve light extraction efficiency in two ways. First, the asymmetric pyramid structure has a large surface area that promotes more interaction of light with the surface, allowing less light to be absorbed. Later, when the light hits two different tilt angles of the asymmetric pyramid structure, the light reflection has more randomness, which means that the light reflects more.
By adopting this method, the LED light extraction efficiency is increased to 90%. The research team applied for a patent for the study and said they are seeking to work with relevant LED lighting manufacturers to promote the commercialization of the technology.
It is reported that the results of this study have been published in the journal Optik.
In 2003, the Ministry of Science and Technology took the lead in setting up the “National Semiconductor Lighting Leading Group Office”, which opened the prelude to the rapid development of China's semiconductor lighting. After more than a decade of experience, semiconductor lighting has almost replaced the original traditional lighting, and its speed is faster than the imagination of the world. Since the LED enters the field of lighting, the world lighting pattern has undergone tremendous changes. Many LED lighting manufacturers are actively adjusting, one of which is dimming lighting and system control.
When it comes to 2019, it is no longer meaningful to enter the era of semiconductor lighting. Just like everyone uses a smartphone, every family is using LED lights. In this situation, we have to think about: After the LED replaces the original lighting, where is the next energy-saving space? If the LED is replaced by the original traditional lighting, it is called a change, then lighting dimming, system control, will be another revolution in the lighting industry!
We seem to have just started regulation and use of the lighting according to demand. A good life needs beautiful lighting, from bright to comfortable, is a new task for the lighting industry.
When all the lamps have been replaced with LED lights, how can we reduce energy consumption? The smart system may be the best answer. According to estimates: LED replaces the traditional lamp, about 60% energy saving, then the system control scheme can save more than 60% of lighting power. According to some data, system control has been included in international standards and must be matched. Domestic green building and green lighting standards have been launched last year. Five-star hotels have been the first to implement, and others will follow closely. It is energy-saving, saves money, and is comfortable. This is the trend of the times.
Led by the Institute of Agricultural Environment and Sustainable Development of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xiamen Tongyu Technology Co., Ltd., Dongguan University Optoelectronics Research Institute, Osram (China) Lighting Co., Ltd., and Yimeixinguang (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. joint proposal "General technical requirements for LED lighting system for leaf vegetables production" that approved by the CSA Standardization Committee (CSAS) Management Committee, officially established the alliance standard CSA058-201X.
In recent years, New greenhouses, plant factories, vertical farms have developed rapidly at home and abroad, and have become a research hotspot in the field of plant production. Increasing luminous efficiency and reducing energy consumption have always been an important issue in the field of agricultural lighting. LED can adjust the spectrum and irradiation intensity according to demand, and form a spectrum that is basically consistent with the photosynthesis and morphogenesis of plants. The LED's utilization rate of light energy can reach 80%~90%, and the energy-saving effect is remarkable.
The LED grow lightsare mainly used to produce leafy vegetables and has gradually formed a market scale. At present, the new agricultural lighting farms that have been built and planned to be built in China have a planting area of ??more than 1 million square meters, and the estimated demand for LED light source products is about 105 million pcs (20W/2.1umol/J), and the annual compound increase rate is 16.7%. This technical report specifies the general technical requirements for the production of LED illumination systems for leafy vegetables based on full artificial light conditions, including terminology and definitions, classification, technical requirements, effect evaluation methods, and measurement methods. At the same time, the “General cultivation management measures for the production of artificial artificial leaf vegetables”, “the common cultivation mode for the production of artificial leafy vegetables”, “General environmental conditions for the production of all artificial leafy vegetables”, “General environmental conditions for the production of typical leafy vegetables”, etc. are used as an appendix to provide a more comprehensive understanding of artificial leafy vegetable production related information.
Currently, the CSAS Secretariat is collecting the standard drafting group within the formal CSAS membership with a view to developing the standard as soon as possible.
Due to the energy-saving and environmentally friendly, the penetration of LED lighting products into the traditional lighting market is the trend of the times. The replacement of traditional lighting products by LED lighting products will continue to be supported by policies. Overall, China's macro economy is in a relatively stable growth period, providing a good environment for the development of the industry. In addition to regular lighting applications, the gradual development of automotive lighting, plant lighting, IR/UV LED, medical lighting and other market segments will stimulate broader market demand.
From the perspective of the global LED industry chain, Chinese companies are dominant in the global industrial chain, from upstream chips to midstream packaging to downstream applications. In 2018, Sino-US trade frictions, the United States imposed tariffs, overseas LED companies faced the problem of rising raw material costs brought by tariffs, but Chinese companies still have a large competitive advantage.
The favorable factors of the LED industry are:
1. National industrial policy support.
LED is more in line with future market trends due to its energy saving and environmental protection properties. The state has introduced a series of encouraging policies to support industrial development. At the same time, in the context of the country's encouragement of exports, LED lighting products enjoy preferential policies for export tax rebates. The export tax rebate rate for LED display products is 16%, and the export tax rebate rate for LED bulbs, LED light strip products is 13%. Under the background of industrial policy support, the scale of the industry is expanding day by day, and the industry chain is becoming more and more complete, which has created favorable conditions for enterprises in the industry to improve their competitiveness and participate in international competition.
2. A wide range of products and broad market prospects.
LED applications are in the ascendant, widely used in landscape decorative lighting, large-screen display, traffic lights, digital display and indicator lights for home appliances, car lights, mobile phones, digital cameras, computers, LCD TV backlights, and other fields. With the development of technology, LED has also appeared in new application directions, such as aerospace, medical, agriculture, and other fields. The market share of LED in various fields has steadily increased and the emergence and development of emerging application fields have created a good market space for the development of the LED industry. In the future, the construction of national affordable housing projects, rural infrastructure construction, railways, highways, and airports will be steadily advanced. These major investments will produce various LEDs including display screens, special lighting, general lighting, landscape lighting, etc. Application product demand pull.
3. Upstream technology continues to improve, and cost reduction boosts industry demand.
As the cost of the upstream technology advances in the industry declines, the breadth and depth of market demand will be further expanded, and the market substitution effect will be released to a greater extent. The upstream and downstream of the LED industry chain will achieve positive interaction, new products, and new technologies will be rapidly promoted, and the market of downstream application industry will be further subdivided, and the market capacity of the entire industry will be further improved.
4. The downstream industry standards are constantly improving, and standardized development has become the director.
With the wider application range of applications, such as outdoor advertising and stadiums have gradually established relevant management specifications. In addition, the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Public Security, etc. have also established relevant standards for LED applications. The establishment of the above industry standards and specifications will help promote the orderly and standardized development of the LED lighting industry.
According to foreign media reports, hypertension is the main cause of stroke and a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. So what can people do to lower blood pressure besides medication, diet changes, weight loss, and exercise? Research suggests that LED blue light may help.
A randomized study from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom showed that 14 healthy male volunteers were exposed to blue light for 30 minutes in one day and then illuminated by another light without blue spectrum for 30 minutes on the second day. It is reported that the wavelength of blue light is about 450 nm, which is similar to the visible blue light wavelength in sunlight.
As a result, they found that exposure did not have any effect under another light, and blue light caused a reduction in systolic blood pressure by nearly 8 mmHg. According to researchers at the university, this phenomenon is similar to the trial of antihypertensive drugs.
In addition, blue light seems to reduce arterial stiffness and increase nitric oxide levels, one of which is a cardiovascular health-related signaling molecule. Researchers believe that blue light can cause the skin to release nitric oxide and let it enter the bloodstream. There, it begins to relax blood vessels, increase blood flow and lower blood pressure.
Professor Christian Heiss of the University of Surrey said that in the absence of drugs, exposure to blue light provides innovative treatment for precise blood pressure control. This is especially helpful for people whose blood pressure is not easily controlled by drugs, such as the elderly.
Related research reports have been published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology.
According to media reports, a survey of 1,000 adults showed that 77% of respondents believe that workplace lighting will affect their productivity, 33% said that it is important to get natural light, and 32% said they Willing to work under artificial lighting that helps increase productivity.
Beyond that, it is worth noting that the vast majority of respondents tend to link the lighting conditions of their offices to their own work output. The survey results show that whether there is or not direct biological effects of light, humans at least psychologically respond to light.
Although the direct link between lighting and productivity has not been absolutely confirmed, relevant evidence and common sense indicate that productivity is significantly increased when workers are more satisfied with lighting conditions.
The findings are important for human lighting. Human lighting In the human-centered lighting design, the set scenes and different levels of illumination are varied within a day to match the human 24-hour circadian rhythm.
One expert said, “There are some smart LED lighting systems on the market that can help achieve the right mix of natural and artificial light, suitable for homes and workplaces.”
People-centered lighting has begun to dominate in the workplace but has made greater progress in the healthcare environment. For example, specially designed LED lighting helps to reduce the drug dependence of mental patients and improve dementia care.
The survey also found that at home, 31% of respondents believe that lighting is very important when creating a relaxed and quiet atmosphere before going to bed at night, and 38% believe that morning bedroom lighting can help them be energized.
The problem of myopia in primary and secondary school students has always been concerned by the society. According to statistics, the myopia rate of primary and middle school students in Xiamen is slightly higher than the national average. The primary school students have a myopia rate of about 50%, junior high school students about 70%, and high school students more than 80%. The high incidence of myopia and the trend of a younger age have seriously affected the physical and mental health of children. At the recent seminar of the light environment and eye health of Xiamen schools, experts proposed to further improve the lighting conditions in the classroom to protect the visual health of children and adolescents.
Qiu Aiming, the chief physician of the Xiamen City Primary and Secondary School Health Care Center, said that the health center collects data of more than 300,000 students each year. The data show that the health problems of Xiamen students are mainly myopia, dental caries (fangs) and obesity. Among them, the problem of myopia is the most prominent. There are many factors that cause myopia. From the research results, the transformation of lighting can significantly improve students' vision.
A study conducted by the Peking University Institute of Child and Adolescent Health showed that the classroom lighting renovation significantly improved the lighting environment of the classroom, to a certain extent, it can prevent the decline of vision of primary and secondary school students and reduce the new incidence of poor eyesight. It is understood that the Wuyuan Experimental School in 2014 changed the lighting of the two classrooms, transforming the original fluorescent lamps into LED lights without stroboscopic flash. In the summer of 2015, all the ordinary classrooms, special classrooms, teacher offices, and conference room lighting were replaced with stroboscopic LED lights. After three years of data comparison, the school’s myopia rate has dropped slightly in schools that have completed the classroom lighting renovation. It can be judged that the myopia rate has a lot to do with the lighting environment.
It is understood that more than 50 schools in Xiamen have implemented the healthy lighting environment renovation project.
It is reported that Sandia National Laboratory researchers said that this kind of LED lighting is currently only in the initial stage, its light can be used as a signal for specific physiological responses of humans and plants. In short, LEDs offer many advantages for health, and this has not been discovered before.
Researchers said that the control of the time, space and spectral content of LED luminaires (which they call "engineering light") can trigger a variety of hormonal responses that can help regulate human health and productivity. Specific LED light wavelengths and intensities can also effectively stimulate plant growth, alter plant shape and increase its nutritional value. This will bring new possibilities for indoor planting.
Researcher Jeff Tsao said that this approach is not to ignore the convergence of LED and Internet of Things (IoT), LED has now integrated with the electronics, sensor and communications industries. The ever-expanding use of LEDs will bring greater value to society, far exceeding the energy saved by the housing and architectural lighting.
The bracket is one of the most important components in SMD LED. The copper bracket has high thermal conductivity and heat dissipation, which is not easy to rust. The electrical conductivity of the iron bracket is poor, the heat dissipation is low relative to copper, and it is easy to oxidize and rust.
Many people think that magnets can be used to distinguish between iron brackets and copper brackets. In fact, there are two plating materials for the copper brackets, silver and nickel. This method will not work because nickel is attracted by a magnet
Copper has good thermal conductivity and heat dissipation ability, but it is easy to be corroded in the damp environment. Silver is used to increases the adhesion between the chip and the bracket. Moreover, due to the silver is a highly reflective material, the silver-plated layer is able to reduce light loss and increases reflection. Nickel is an approximately silver-white, hard and malleable material that is highly polished and resistant to corrosion and reduces undesirable reactions such as vulcanization. Therefore, it can be used in the copper brackets to prevent copper from migrating to the silver, and increase the strength of the brackets.
Therefore, the best way to identify the materials of the brackets is breaking the bracket. If the cross-section is purple and red, it is the copper bracket. If the color is silver and gray, it is the iron bracket.
A few days ago, Signify issued a press release announcing that two French vegetable growers have installed Signify's LED garden lighting in their greenhouses to help grow cucumbers throughout the year.
According to the company, Jardins Réunis and Cheminant installed the Philips GreenPower series of plant lights LED Toplight and LED Interlight in their new cucumber greenhouse (located in the Nantes region of France). The two are the first growers in France to use LED lamps to grow steel cucumbers, demonstrating their leadership as a member of the Océane grower cooperative.
Signify pointed out that LED grow lighting can help increase crop yields, and also allows growers to control light and temperature more precisely because LEDs do not generate excessive heat as the light increases. These features ensure the high-quality production of the crop throughout the year as efficiently as possible.
Antoine, a co-owner of Cheminant, said that LED plant lights provide better heat and light balance. Compared to high-pressure sodium lamps, LED lights can greatly increase production without generating heat. According to the calculation, Cheminant's 20,000 square meters semi-enclosed greenhouse is illuminated with LED lights, and the output will be 30% higher than the output of traditional greenhouses without LED grow lights.
Vincent Olivon, co-owner of Jardins Réunis, said that the planting experts can provide good advice and support. LED lighting will help companies improve energy efficiency and reduce production gaps, especially in the winter when revenues are greater. This plays a key role in maintaining the company's position in the market throughout the year.
It is reported that similar to Jardins Réunis and Cheminant, a French Philips Horti LED certified partner Eiffage énergie Systèmes installed Philips LED Toplight (145 μmol/s/m2) and LED Interlight in its 25,000 m2 greenhouse in November 2018. (67 μmol/s/m2).
