Lighting device for horticulture

A grow light for providing light to one or more plants in a grow area, comprising:

• a light source having a front face, the light source configured to emit light through the front face to illuminate the grow area;
• an energy conversion component comprising a plurality of portions, the energy conversion component being positioned in one of the plurality of portions to the front face, wherein each of the plurality of portions of the energy conversion component converts light received from the light source into light having a different spectrum;
• and
• a controller configured to position the energy conversion component to cause a respective portion among the plurality of portions of the energy conversion component to be exposed to the front face in response to one or more sensed parameters.

A horticultural lighting system for providing light to one or more plants in a grow area comprising:

• a grow light including one or more light panels spaced away from the grow area, each of the one or more light panels including:
• a frame;
• at least one light emitting diode coupled to an interior of an edge of the frame;
• a light guide panel positioned in the frame, an edge of the light guide panel in communication with the at least one light emitting diode;
• and
• at least one color conversion sheet coupled to a front surface of the light guide panel,
• the grow light configured to output a uniformity of light outputted through the front surface of the light guide panel that is greater than 50%.

A method of cultivating one or more plants positioned in a grow area comprising:

• obtaining a grow light configured to provide light to the one or more plants, the grow light including one or more light panels spaced away from the grow area, each of the one or more light panels including:
• a frame;
• at least one light emitting diode coupled to an interior of an edge of the frame;
• a light guide panel positioned in the frame, an edge of the light guide panel in communication with the at least one light emitting diode;
• and
• at least one energy conversion film coupled to a front surface of the light guide panel,
• outputting, using the grow light, a light through the front surface of the light guide panel having uniformity which is greater than 50%.

A grow light for providing light to one or more plants in a grow area, comprising:

• a frame;
• an opaque reflector positioned within the frame;
• a light source disposed on the frame;
• and
• a first energy conversion component disposed over a first portion of the light source and a second energy conversion component disposed over a second portion of the light source,
• the first energy conversion component configured to convert light received from the first portion into a light having a first spectrum and the second energy conversion component converts light received from the second portion into a light having a second spectrum different from the first spectrum.

A grow light control system for providing light to a plant in a grow area, comprising:

• a light source configured to emit source light to the plant in the grow area, the source light having a source light characteristic;
• a light sensor configured to:
• detect reflected light from the plant, the reflected light having a reflection wavelength spectrum, and
• generate reflected light sensor data representative of the reflected light having the reflection wavelength spectrum;
• a controller configured to:
• receive the reflected light sensor data, and
• determine any needed modification of the source light characteristic of the source light based on the reflected light sensor data and plant characteristic criteria.

A growth control sensor for a grow light system, the sensor comprising:

• an excitation light source configured to provide an excitation light pulse to a plant;
• a photodetector configured to receive a light emitted from the plant in response to the excitation light received by the plant and generate an electrical signal based on the received light;
• a filter circuit configured to process the electrical signal to remove components of the electrical signal generated by ambient light surrounding the plant to generate a data signal,
• a communication circuit configured to transmit the data signal to enable data storage for further processing,
• wherein the data signal is representative of a fluorescence output from leaves of the plant.

A method of detecting the photosynthetic activity of a plant, the method comprising:

• generating, by a photodetector, a first electrical signal based on an ambient light detected by the photodetector;
• turning on an excitation light source;
• generating, by the photodetector, a second electrical signal based a fluorescence light detected by the photodetector;
• and
• subtracting the first electrical signal from the second electrical signal to generate a fluorescence signal representative of a fluorescence output from leaves of the plant.

A growth control sensor, comprising:

• an excitation light source configured to provide light having a wavelength in a range from 400 nm to 500 nm to a plant;
• and
• a photodetector configured to measure a light reflected and emitted from the plant in response to receiving a light from the excitation light source,
• wherein the excitation light source has an intensity in a range from 400 μmol/m2s to 8000 μmol/m2s,
• wherein the measured light reflected and emitted from the plant is indicative of a measure of photosynthesis rate of the plant.

A grow light for providing light to one or more plants in a grow area, comprising:

• a frame;
• a light source disposed along an interior of an edge of the frame;
• a light guide panel disposed in the frame, an edge of the light guide panel being in communication with the light source disposed on the interior of the corresponding edge of the frame, the light guide panel being configured to direct light received from the light source through a first surface of the light guide panel to a viewing hemisphere;
• and
• a first energy conversion component disposed over a first portion of the light source and a second energy conversion component disposed over a second portion of the light source,
• the first energy conversion component configured to convert light received from the first portion into a light having a first spectrum and the second energy conversion component configured to convert light received from the second portion into a light having a second spectrum different from the first spectrum.