Light Uniformity - Comparing LED and HPS Luminaires

Light uniformity is an important factor when it comes to growing a consistent crop and optimizing your growing environment, however, there has been some misinformation about the way HID and LED luminaires distribute light and affect plant health.

As a manufacturer of both HID and LED technology, P.L. Light Systems always strives to show the complete picture of both technologies. We think both HID and LED have great advantages, and which you chose will be entirely based upon your application and goals as a grower. With that being said, many LED manufacturers like to paint HID luminaires as being an inferior technology – and we are here to show you that they both can be used to grow great crops. In fact, the same uniformity can be achieved with LED or HID luminaires, and that it depends largely on the light plan and the mounting capabilities of your facility, rather than the luminaire itself. Almost any luminaire can deliver uniform desired light levels in an existing or new infrastructure, as long as there is design freedom from the luminaire manufacturer to layout a custom light plan - as it is mounting heights and luminaire spacing which impacts uniformity. However, most operations don’t have this luxury and luminaires need to be hung according to where track truss are located, which is why the angular distribution of light between HID and LED luminaires becomes important, and can be a crucial component in having a good ROI for your operation.