Full LED solution offers increased production and faster growth cycles at De Glastuin
Belgium lettuce grower opts for Signify
Since the introduction of Philips GreenPower LED Toplighting Compact from Signify, many vegetable, fruit and horticulture growers have made the choice to fully equip their greenhouses with LEDs. “By combining this LED lighting with the GrowWise Control System, it is possible to both control and dim the light, giving growers a high degree of flexibility,” the company says. This solution has now also found its way into lettuce growing; De Glastuin in Belgium opted for 100% LED grow lights from Signify.
Each type of lettuce requires a different amount of light. Heat is also a limiting factor when growing lettuce. As a result, in many periods it is not possible to illuminate the crops because too much heat accumulates in the greenhouse. Thanks to LED lighting, which emits less heat, it is possible to light the crop for longer hours, resulting in a increased production and faster growth cycles. The combination with the GrowWise Control System also allows the lighting to be dimmed. For example, to keep the light intensity the same on sunny days while maintaining light uniformity or to prevent climate fluctuations.
This summer, lettuce grower De Glastuin expanded its existing 1.75 hectare greenhouse with HPS lighting by 0.75 hectares. In this new part of the greenhouse, Philips GreenPower LED Toplighting Compact is installed together with the GrowWise Control System. The modules in the new part of the LED greenhouse have an output of 1800 µmol/s and require only 520 W (3.5 µmol/J). They provide a light level of 90 µmol/s/m². De Glastuin is pleased with the high quality and longer shelf life of the lettuce.
“With Toplighting Compact in combination with the GrowWise Control System, we can automatically adjust the amount of LED light to the amount of daylight at any given moment. As a result, there are fewer fluctuations in light intensity during the day. The lighting is much more efficient, dimmable and it offers us flexibility by allowing us to provide less light at any time,” says Wouter de Bruyn, business manager at De Glastuin.
“De Glastuin’s choice of Signify reinforces our conviction that we have chosen the right approach to make it easier for growers to switch to LED,” says Udo van Slooten, Business Leader Horticulture LED Solutions at Signify.
The first Toplighting Compact was introduced in 2019 as a 1-on-1 replacement of HPS lighting to enable an easy transition to LED. The Toplighting Compact can be mounted on an existing HPS connection. This saves time and money during installation. In new greenhouses, installation is even easier thanks to easy-to-install brackets. The universal design of this system gives growers the possibility to fully equip their greenhouse with LED lights or to change their current set-up into a hybrid system with LED and HPS lighting. Signify’s Compact range is also equipped with optics with normal and wide beam angles. The wide beam angle is ideal for growers looking for optimal light distribution or for lower greenhouses, for example. For crops where a greater distance between the plant and the grow light is possible, the normal beam is a better option.
