Ag Tech News
Project for Philips LED Toplighting Compact at New Greenhouse for Arcadia Chrysantemums
Eindhoven, the Netherlands – Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, today announced that its longstanding partner, Arcadia Chrysanten, a leading commercial grower of single bud chrysanthemums in the Netherlands, will equip its newest 4.7 ha greenhouse with a combination of Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact and HPS lighting. Arcadia chose the new toplighting compact product, introduced in January 2019, because of its passively cooled design and easy to install construction that supports an irrigation system and both HPS and LED lighting. This robust solution allows greenhouses to take advantage of LED toplighting benefits: improved yield, quality and crop predictability, as well as reduced energy costs.
Signify has been working with chrysanthemum growers and research institutes since 2011 to develop the best light recipe for growing chrysanthemums. Arcadia played a key role in this process by installing a large-scale trial on 2,000 m2 of chrysanthemums in 2016. “We greatly value our intensive collaboration with Arcadia during this process,” said Udo van Slooten, Business Leader Horticulture at Signify. “Their trial resulted in 20% heavier chrysanthemum stems with very consistent quality when grown under a hybrid set-up of LED and HPS lighting. That is why Arcadia has chosen to work with Signify once again for its new greenhouse, and we are honored by their trust in our solutions.”
Arcadia is a major commercial grower, producing a broad range of high quality, single bud chrysanthemums at five cultivation sites spanning 20 hectares. Arcadia is well known in its sector for pioneering new innovations in technology and energy efficiency. “We have once again chosen Philips LEDs because of the support we get from the plant specialists and the reliability of the products. With the Philips LEDs we can optimize the climate and light, in combination with the two screens we will use. We will be able to generate extra growth even in the summer, which would not have been possible with only an HPS installation,” said Andre van Paassen.
Besides the perfect fit in new to be built greenhouses, the new Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact provides an easy 1-to-1 switch while re-using your existing HPS plug and infrastructure to improve crop results or reduce energy costs. Compared to a 1000-W HPS light, the Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact will produce the same amount of light, while using 40% less electricity and producing very little radiant heat. This gives growers more independent control over heat and light in their greenhouse climate. Compared to a 600-W HPS light, the new energy efficient LED toplighting compact produces 80% more light, using the same amount of electricity.
During Greentech in June, Signify will disclose all relevant specifications of the Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact. The product will be commercially available in Fall 2019 and the installation with Arcadia will be installed by horti LED partner Stolze.
