System Design and Performance Analysis of a Variable Frequency LED Light System for Plant Factory

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to design a variable frequency LED light system for plant factory which combined red, blue, green, white, and UV lights and controlled the ratio of the light wavelength. In addition, this study evaluated the performance of each combination of LED to verify the applicability. Methods: Four combinations of LED (i.e. Red+Blue, Red+Blue+Green, Red+Blue+White, Red+Blue+UV) were designed using five types of LED. The system was designed to control the duty ratio of each wavelength of LED by 1% interval from 0~100%, the pulse by 1Hz interval from 1~20kHz. Response characteristics of the control system, spectral distribution of each combination, light uniformity and uniformity ratio were measured to test the performance of the system. Results: Clean waveforms were measured from 10Hz to 10kHz regardless of duty ratio. Frequency distortion was observed within 5% of inflection point at frequencies above 10kHz regardless of duty ratio, but it was judged negligible. Spectra showed a normal distribution, and maximum PPF with duty ratio of 100% was $271.4{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ for the Red+Blue combination. PPF of the Red+Blue+Green combination was $258.9{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$, and that of the Red+Blue+White combination was $273.9{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$. PPF of the Red+Blue+UV combination was $267.7{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$. Uniformity ratio for the area excepting border showed 0.90 for the Red+Blue and Red+Blue+White combinations, 0.87 for the Red+Blue+Green combination, and 0.88 for the Red+Blue+UV combination. The light was irradiated evenly at the area excepting border, so it was suitable for plant growing. Conclusions: From the results of this study, response characteristics of the control system, spectral distribution of each combination, light uniformity and uniformity ratio were suitable for applying into the plant factory.