Whole high-quality light environment for humans and plants

Area of Science:

• Plant science
• Horticultural lighting
• LED technology

Background:

• Plants in shared human-spaceship environments require attractive, natural appearance.
• Illumination must be white light with high color rendering index (CRI).
• Investigating the efficacy of human-centric lighting for plant growth is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare spectrum-based effects of white LEDs versus high-pressure sodium lamps for plant lighting.
• To determine if lighting optimized for human vision is suitable for plants.
• To assess the impact of LED color temperature and CRI on plant growth metrics.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of plant responses under different artificial light sources (white LEDs, high-pressure sodium lamps).
• Evaluation of phytochrome photo-equilibria under varying white LED parameters.
• Measurement of yield photon flux, luminous efficacy, and color rendering indices (Ra, R14).

Main Results:

• Phytochrome photo-equilibria were not significantly affected by white LED parameters.
• Phytoactive blue light share increased with higher color temperatures.
• Yield photon flux correlated positively with luminous efficacy and decreased with higher color temperatures.
• High CRI (Ra > 90) and specific color temperatures (2700K) of white LEDs demonstrated efficiency comparable to high-pressure sodium lamps.

Conclusions:

• White LED lighting with high color rendering is compatible with agro-technical objectives.
• Optimized white LEDs offer efficient and aesthetically pleasing lighting solutions for plants in shared environments.
• Demand for high CRI white light does not conflict with horticultural needs.