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On spectrum optimization: how much of the Sun's emissions spectrum is actually used by plants for photosynthesis? Are there efficiency gains to be realized by c
by farmaway 4y ago
On spectrum optimization: how much of the Sun's emissions spectrum is actually used by plants for photosynthesis? Are there efficiency gains to be realized by converting non-"bioavailable" solar radiation first into electric power, and then into LED output plants can use for photosynthesis? Quick Googling suggests "maybe, probably not", but it's been years since I took an EM physics course.
I realize PV panels are less than 100% efficient at solar to electric energy conversion. Wikipedia suggests 30% is a realistic figure for large-scale solar installations. Batteries also add losses, so let's assume LEDs only run while the sun shines. LEDs themselves add losses too, so our inefficiencies seem to be piling up... All the same, I'd love to see someone run the experiment of (yield per care of traditional farming) / (yield per acre of solar panels + vertical hydroponics).
- imtringued 4y agoIf that were possible then all these vertical farms deserve to fail because they didn't take such a basic strategy into account.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- zeristor 4y agoRed and blue mostly I think, hence purple lights, and why plants look green and not black. As I understand the variation in green light and it’s intensity mucks up photosynthesis, now if photosynthesis could be tuned to use green light too that would be handy, it’s just that evolution has a head start of billions of years. Of course though eukaryotic cells run on mitochondria, if energy could be sourced to the cell to replace the chloroplasts directly that could be one way around. But denaturing food like that could have unforeseen consequences. There was a Tommorow’s World item about making food from petrochemicals, I’m still aghast.
- LargoLasskhyfv 4y ago> There was a Tommorow’s World item about making food from petrochemicals, I’m still aghast. You make that sound so bad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-cell_protein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-cell_protein Imagine the potential... ;->
- PeterisP 4y agoYou can save some energy by choosing specific spectrum LEDs but you can't go overboard as that is tricky, since in addition to photosynthesis a bunch of other processes in plants are activated by light, and if you just put in one frequency then you may get weird results as some processes in the plant "think" that it's nighttime and screw up its growth.
- voakbasda 4y agoI can think of one plant that will never flower under fluorescent bulbs, because they lack enough red wavelengths to trigger the hormones that shift its biochemistry from vegetative to reproductive growth.