Technology development and competition pattern of plant lighting packaging plant

With the development of LED lighting technology, many enterprises have shifted from the competitive general lighting market to the special lighting application fields such as plants and UV LED. The lighting giants at home and abroad have also laid out the plant lighting field, and their application market has gradually become a new direction of the development of the LED industry.

1. domestic and foreign mainstream plant lighting packaging plant technology and product research status 

With the development of LED lighting technology, many enterprises have shifted from the competitive general lighting market to the special lighting application fields such as plants and UV LED. The lighting giants at home and abroad have also laid out the plant lighting field, and their application market has gradually become a new direction of the development of the LED industry. At present, the LED plant lighting application market is mainly concentrated in Europe, America, Japan and other LED technology frontier and less engaged in agriculture countries, followed by domestic. Foreign companies mainly include Osram, Siemens, Cree, Lumileds, Japan, Japan, Japan, Japan, Japan, Japan, Mitsubishi, Sharp, etc. Domestic companies mainly include: Taiwan Yiguang, Hon Hai, Taiji Telecom, mainland China Sanan, Hongli, Ruifeng, Tianguang, Juhong optoelectronics and other related products have been developing.

The application of LED plant lighting is considered as an important way to solve the world's resources, population and environmental problems in the 21st century. In 1949, American horticulturists and botanists established the first artificial climate chamber in California. Its appearance was the early model of plant factories, which successfully explored and practiced the development and improvement of plant factories, and triggered a storm in the field of Simulated Ecological environment. Subsequently, Japan and the former Soviet Union also built this artificial climate chamber.

In a sense, Denmark really built the world's first plant factory in 1957 at Yorkiston Farm, a suburb of Copenhagen, because its scale reached 1000 m?, using artificial light and solar energy technology, from sowing to harvesting, using automatic conveyor belt production, and producing 4 million bags of water celery. (1 million kg), and these are important features of a plant factory. In 2009, Zhonghuan Yida built a 200 m? Plant seedling factory in Changchun, Jilin Province. The plant seedling factory uses LED light source. In 2010, Mitsubishi Chemicals transformed plant factories with large containers and used LED light sources to photosynthesize crops. In 2012, the first plant factory system illuminated by LED was used to grow lettuce and tender leafy vegetables, and began to sell in that year, thus opening the curtain of LED plant lighting. In 2014, Panasonic launched the first indoor vegetable factory approved by the government in Singapore, which produces 10 kinds of vegetables such as red leaf lettuce with an annual output of 3.6 tons. In 2015, Zhongke Sanan planned to build a plant factory in Anxi, Fujian Province. In June 2016, it used its own intellectual property technology to build the first plant factory with 10,000 square meters of growth environment and full intelligent control in the world, and put into production formally. It produced 1.5 tons of green, non-polluting and high-quality vegetables per day. In July, the first production line of Clematis roxburghii was built. Put into operation, marking the start of industrial development of medicinal plants factory. In October 2017, Philips combined HPS top lighting with Hilips Grenn Power LED plant-to-plant high-output lighting module to install more than 26,000 GreenPower LED plant-to-plant lighting modules for new greenhouses, covering a total area of 10.6 hectares. At present, artificial light source technology is more and more widely used in the field of plant lighting. In particular, LED has more and more obvious advantages in the field of plant lighting because of its high light efficiency, low heat, small size, long life, dimming technology and many other advantages.

The spectrum of plant lamp is mainly composed of red (660 nm) blue (450 nm) and far red (730 nm). The spectrum of conventional light source varies greatly and distributes unevenly. The spectrum of LED light source can be designed according to the requirements of planting technology. At the same time, the spectrum of LED light source can be controlled by dimming technology, which is the only available method at present. In order to realize the variable spectrum plant light source, the variable spectrum technology is mainly aimed at the control of light form. Ordinary plant light can also be adjusted by adjusting the light period, but the application cost will increase a lot. With the rapid development of plant lighting, more and more attention has been paid to accurately and objectively evaluating lighting products and on-site lighting environment. It is necessary to consider the evaluation of plant lighting from two points: one is the healthy growth needs of plants, the other is the full energy-saving and environmental protection lighting.

In the field of vegetable lighting packaging, there are many kinds of packaging devices without a unified measurement and evaluation standard system. The manufacturers involved in this field include 2835/5730 series monochrome and white light products which add luster to Avatar's subsidiary in Shenzhen, PCT 2835 monochrome light products of Ruifeng Optoelectronics in Shenzhen, and XC 3535 red and blue monochrome light products. Taiwanese manufacturers include high power, medium power and low power products of various sizes, such as 2835/3030 monochrome and 3535 monochrome and white products of Yiguang. Overseas large factories are mainly in the direction of high power, COB and modules, taking into account the white light series of plant lighting, combining plant growth characteristics and humanized lighting environment. Compared with domestic products, they have greater technical advantages in reliability, light efficiency, photosynthetic and irradiation characteristics of different plant growth cycles.

Lumileds launched LUXEON SunPlus 3030/2020/COB plant lighting series LED chips, which imported Photosynthetic Photon Flux (PPF) to ensure that plant growth lamps can be designed to provide specific wavelength for greenhouse, vertical farm and other plant growth applications.Oslon Photoelectric Semiconductor Ceramic 3030 perfectly covers the whole process of plant growth with the help of 660 nm wavelength of Oslon Square Hyper Red prototype, 450 nm deep blue light and 730 nm far red light. At the lighting exhibition held in Philadelphia in 2017, Oslon Photoelectric Semiconductor demonstrated a prototype of LED that can promote the healthy growth of plants: Oslon Square Hyper Red. This third generation 2W level LED has improved emission characteristics, higher light output and excellent corrosion resistance. The plant lighting system using Oslon Square Hyper Red is very high. Cost performance. Taiwan Yiguang also demonstrated in the United States the development of a full range of agricultural LEDs with wavelength ranging from 450 to 730 nm, including various sizes of high-power, medium-power and low-power products, to meet the needs of various plants in different growth environments, with the expectation of maximizing plant growth and energy saving.

As an important part of the field of plant lighting packaging, chip epitaxy patents are still in the hands of early leading companies such as Japan, Japan, Asia and Core, USA. Domestic chip manufacturers still lack patented products with market competitiveness. Among them, AlGaInP R6 (650-670 nm), R7 (680-700 nm) and R8 (720-740 nm) series of plant lighting application packaging chips based on Si substrate were developed by Sanan Photoelectric Company. In addition to adjusting the epitaxy structure of Taiwan crystal element AlGaInP 660nm chip to improve the luminous efficiency of quantum wells, new technology platforms are introduced at the wafer fabrication end to improve the external luminous efficiency. WPE_40-44% 660nm LED products (BRPN42B) have been developed to further improve the luminous efficiency of products. Overseas chip manufacturers have a large market share by using core patents. At the same time, many companies are developing new technologies in the field of plant lighting packaging chips. For example, OSRAM based on thin film technology makes chips closely packaged together, creates large area lighting surface, and saves 40% of the energy of 660 nm high-efficiency LED.

Although plant lighting is an emerging market, foreign giants have developed more mature, and have already carried out a rigorous layout of patents, especially the core patents in the upstream chip field. In the development mode, it is basically the mode that LED light source company and plant factory cooperate with.

Japan's LED technology is in the leading position in the world, and has a perfect LED industry chain. At the same time, Japan's biotechnology level is relatively high. Therefore, it has incomparable advantages in the combination of LED and biological applications in other countries and regions. OSRAM, as a multinational company which pays close attention to the development of LED technology, has formed the layout of the whole industry chain, such as epitaxy chip, LED device, fluorescent material, application and so on. In recent years, OSRAM has gradually focused its LED on the application level of plant lamp, making every effort to seize the agricultural market. These international large manufacturers have a complete patent layout in the global LED market. If the joint holding downstream manufacturers or research institutes cooperate to enter the field of plant lighting, they will have a strong competitiveness. The development of domestic plant lighting field can be said to be just beginning. The concept of plant factory has gradually been accepted by people in recent years. Although some large plants in China have developed plant lighting products, most of them are based on the development mode of "emphasizing LED while neglecting plant", lacking technical personnel, high investment cost and lack of core patents. The difficulty of export is limited and the progress is slow.

2. technology and product status of plant lighting monochromatic optical packaging devices

Plant lighting monochrome light (mainly 450 nm, 660 nm, 730 nm) packaging devices are covered by many companies at home and abroad, while the domestic products are more complex, more specifications, and the products of foreign manufacturers are more standardized. At the same time, there is still a big gap between domestic and foreign packaging plants in photosynthetic photon flux, light efficiency, and so on, and in other countries. In the aspect of band monochrome light, new products are being developed at home and abroad. Some of the monochrome light products from packaging factories at home and abroad are as follows:

Lumileds and Osram plant illumination monochrome spectra are shown in figs. 4 and 5. The spectral distributions of B (Blue) and DR (Deep Red) products are similar, with peak wavelengths of 450 and 660 nm, respectively. The spectral distributions of FR (Far Red) are slightly different. Osram peak wavelength is 725 nm, Lumileds peak wavelength is 735 nm, and half-wave width is slightly longer.

Fig. 4 Lumileds monochromatic spectrogram

Fig. 5 Osram monochromatic light B / DR / FR spectrogram

In addition to the main bands of 450, 660 and 730 nm products, many manufacturers are also developing new products in other bands to achieve complete PAR (450-730 nm) wavelength coverage. For example, Osram's 3030 monochrome light chips are 470nm, 528nm, 590nm, 617nm, 623nm plant lighting color series; Lumileds'2200/3535/COB Purple and Lime plant products are prepared by 450 nm chip and phosphor powder, and the specifications and spectra are as follows:

Osram470nm monochromatic light Osram528nm monochromatic light Osram590nm monochromatic light

Osram617nm monochromatic light Osram623nm monochromatic light

图 7 Lumileds 2020/3535Purple、Lime Chromatic spectrum

图 8 Lumileds COB PurpleChromatic spectrum

3.Technology and product status of full spectrum packaging device for plant lighting

Because the statistical data of each plant in the growth stage is not perfect, monochrome LED plant growth lamp is not suitable for any plant growth, the advantages of full spectrum LED are highlighted, because it is suitable for most plants to supplement the light demand. The full spectrum of plant growth lighting equipment should first achieve the full coverage of 400-700 nm visible light spectrum. In addition, the performance of 470-510 nm blue-green light and 660-700 nm deep red light should be improved. Green light and yellow light are used to improve CRI/Ra performance. The UV band below 400 nm should be added according to customer needs. Using ordinary LED blue light or ultraviolet chip with phosphor to achieve "full" spectrum, its photosynthetic efficiency has different levels, there is no uniform specification and standard in the industry. Plant monochrome optical packaging devices are involved by many domestic and foreign manufacturers, but in plant lighting full spectrum packaging devices are mainly domestic large factories, Japanese and Korean and European and American enterprises, such as Shenzhen Ruifeng Optoelectronics, Germany Osram, Japan and Asia, South Korea Samsung, Seoul and so on. Its main product specifications are as follows:

Blue chip + phosphor is used by most manufacturers of plant lighting white light packaging devices to achieve full spectrum, such as 2216/2835/3528 low-power products of Shenzhen Ruifeng Optoelectronics, 3030 high-power products of Riya and Samsung, and COB, Ra is above 90. Among them, the color index of Ruifeng products can be more than 97, and increase the performance of 660-700 nm dark red section, which is more conducive to plant growth (Figure 9). Samsung and Riya products performed better in 470-510 nm blue-green band (Figs. 10 and 11). At the Frankfurt exhibition in 2018, Samsung displayed White+Red plant lighting products, and compared their spectra with the white and Blue+Red spectra of ordinary plant lighting, which highlighted their compatibility with the spectra required for plant production (Fig. 12). OSRAM plant lighting EQ white light products, in 470-510 nm blue-green light, 660-700 nm deep red light loss, non-true full spectrum, its white light products pay more attention to high light efficiency, light supplement and humanized working environment (Figure 13). Seoul Semiconductor Co-operates with Yeelight, uses Sunlike technology, combines advanced purple LED chip technology with TRI-R phosphor technology, thus generating spectra very close to natural light, including 405 nm purple band and 730 nm far red band, while reducing excessive blue light harmful to human eyes, with a color rendering index of 97 (Fig. 14). . The products of main manufacturers are as follows:

图 9 Spectrogram of Ruifeng full spectrum product (Bchip+ phosphor Ra95)

图 10 Spectrogram of solar plant lighting products (Bchip+ phosphor Ra90/95)

图11Samsung Mid power plant lighting products spectrum

图 12 Samsung plant lighting (White+Red) product spectrogram

图 13 OSRAM plant lighting EQ white light product spectrum (Bchip+ phosphor Ra70)

图 14 Seoul semiconductor sunlike series spectrogram (UVchip+ phosphor Ra97)

4. Technology and product status of plant lighting dimming packaging devices

In addition to monochrome and blue or ultraviolet chips and phosphor to achieve white light packaging mode, there is also a mode of composite packaging using two or more wavelength chips, such as red + Blue / ultraviolet, RGB, RGBW. This encapsulation mode has great advantages in dimming. For R/B or R/B/DR, more module packaging modes are used for plant lighting, such as JH-50RB14G45 series plant growth lamps of Guangzhou Juhong Photoelectric (Fig. 15), single multi-band chip composite packaging manufacturers often use RGB or RGBW packaging modes.

图16 天电光电EMC3030 3 in 1 RGB

图 17 CREE XML RGBW5050

In the field of dimming packaging devices, Shenzhen Ruifeng Optoelectronic Co., Ltd. is the world's first company to develop a self-patented 5050 five-color integrated product (Fig. 18). This product has compact structure, satisfies the intensive arrangement of lamp beads, has high integration, and can adjust light color in combination with plant growth light environment and humanized environment. One product can realize unlimited varieties

图 18 瑞丰 5050RGBWW

5. Summary of competition pattern of plant lighting packaging devices and current problems

Plant lighting is a professional and comprehensive technology. The application of plant lighting system includes seedling raising technology, plant protection technology, plant growth control technology, plant quality control technology and so on. At present, most of the domestic plant lights only focus on the application of plant growth. The application of plant growth also lacks the technical research ability of light quality, light quantum and photoperiod. In addition, domestic LED packaging device factories always have the problem of "attaching importance to LED, light plants". Research and development personnel of light source enterprises lack a deep understanding of plants and their cultivation principles. In practice, LED is often the main body, rather than plants, and there is no comprehensive consideration from the overall needs of plant cultivation principles. Researchers in the field lack a profound understanding of the principle of photosynthetic light source, so it is difficult to provide a suitable scheme for the rational demand of plants for light and the development and application of light source from the perspective of light and light source. At the same time, with a large number of domestic enterprises pouring into the new blue sea of LED plant lighting, but the market has not formulated a series of standards and norms, so that the current market is more chaotic. Compared with foreign countries, the government's support for LED plant lighting is insufficient, lack of systematic research and promotion, and the evaluation and measurement standard system of LED plant lighting products still needs to be improved.

In the field of plant lighting packaging devices, there are layout of monochrome light, full spectrum and composite packaging at home and abroad. There are many kinds of domestic products with low light efficiency, which often develop plant lighting from the packaging point of view alone. Foreign large-scale products have great technological advantages in light efficiency, high-power products and photosynthetic irradiance, usually combined with plants. Research can put forward its own complete technical plan. Frontier technology in the field of plant lighting packaging is still in the hands of Europe, America, Japan and Korea. For example, a large number of core patents of semiconductor chip epitaxy are in the hands of Japanese, Asian and American companies such as Kerui. Overseas lighting packages often lay out the whole plant lighting industry chain, combining the advantages of plant research, intelligent control, chip epitaxy and other aspects to improve and develop their own plant lighting technology programs, the development of domestic plant lighting field is still a long way to go.