Lighting Design of Plant Cultivation System Using Fluorescent Lamps

Abstract

A lighting design method of an experimental plant cultivation system equipped with fluorescent lamps set 30cm above the cultivation panel was proposed. The number of fluorescent lamps could be determined by using the coefficient of utilization (U), which indicates the light utilization efficiency in the cultivation room. When 42 fluorescent lamps (110w) were illuminated in the cultivation room, a high mean light intensity of about 45 klx was obtained. The value of U was found to be about 1.7; nearly 2.5 times higher than the value obtained by the illumination method using high pressure sodium lamps. Thus, the light utilization efficiency of the cultivation room could be greatly enchanced by the close illumination method using fluorescent lamps.