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Artificial Lighting System for Plant Growth and Development: Chronological

Advancement, Working Principles, and Comparative Assessment

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DOI: 10.1007/978-981-10-5807-3_1

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Chapter 1
Artificial Lighting System for Plant
Growth and Development: Chronological
Advancement, Working Principles,
and Comparative Assessment

S. Dutta Gupta and A. Agarwal

1.1 Introduction

Solar radiation is the primary source of energy that sustains life on earth. The
spectral distribution of solar radiation has a broad waveband ranging from 300 to
1000 nm. However, only 50% of the radiant energy is available to plants as pho-
tosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and comprises the wavelength region from
400 to 700 nm (Boyle 2004). Specialized photoreceptors present in the plant leaves
capture the photons and convert the sun’s radiant energy to chemical energy fol-
lowing the process of photosynthesis. The process utilizes light absorbed by
chlorophyll a and b, the most important photosynthetic pigments, at 662 and
642 nm, respectively. Plants have also developed intricate mechanisms for trans-
ducing the different wavebands of the incoming solar radiation into specific
chemical signals for regulating various complex growth and developmental pro-
cesses. Other than high-energy-dependent process of photosynthesis, photomor-
phogenesis, photoperiodism, and phototropism are also significantly influenced by
the ambient light conditions. Photomorphogenesis is defined as light-mediated plant
development that also includes differentiation of cells, tissues, and organs and
depends on far-red radiation in the range of 730–735 nm, whereas photoperiodism
refers to the ability of plants to sense and respond to the changes in the photoperiod:
the relative lengths of day and night. The growth movement of the plants toward the
direction of its light source is termed as phototropism. Light in the wavelengths
range of 400–500 nm triggers the phototropic processes.
Unpredictable changes in the natural lighting conditions, insufficient daylight
during the winter season, and climate change phenomenon lead to suboptimal
yields and crop failures in many parts of the world. In order to mitigate this low

S. Dutta Gupta (&)
A. Agarwal

Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute
of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 1

S. Dutta Gupta (ed.), Light Emitting Diodes for Agriculture,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-5807-3_1

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2 S. Dutta Gupta and A. Agarwal

crop productivity, the concept of protected cultivation in greenhouses and con-

trolled environment crop production facilities with artificial lighting came into
existence (Mpelkas 1980). Artificial light sources are used to augment insufficient
sunlight in greenhouse-based open production system, whereas crop and/or trans-
plant production in closed production system relies upon electrical lighting as the
sole light source. Plant tissue cultures maintained under in vitro conditions depend
entirely upon artificial light sources for illumination.
The earliest reports of plant growth under artificial lighting were published in the
1860s by H. Mangon, E. Prilleux, and others. However, commercial application of
artificial lighting for crop production took place only after the development of more
robust and long-lasting electrical lamps in the early twentieth century (Pinho and
Halonen 2014). In the present scenario, electrical lamps have become an indis-
pensable tool for controlled environment agriculture as a steady and reliable source
of plant lighting. Technological advancement in artificial lighting over more than a
century has made it possible to attain the present state of the art in electric lamp
designs.
The most preliminary electrical lamps were designed in the first half of the
nineteenth century. The model for an “electric arc” lamp was demonstrated by Sir
Humphry Davy in 1809, whereas the first prototype for an “incandescent” lamp was
revealed by Warren de la Rue in 1840. The era of artificial electric lighting actually
started with the development of incandescent lamp designed by Thomas Edison in
1879. The proposed models were too costly for commercial application and had
very short life spans. Various “carbon-filament”-based models were designed for
the incandescent lamp in the mid- and late nineteenth century. However, it was only
in the first part of the twentieth century that tungsten-based incandescent lamps
were developed. Gas discharge lamps, the next state of electro-optical advance-
ment, were first fabricated by Heinrich Geissler in 1857 by using various noble
gases in an electric arc tube. The fluorescent lamp is the most widely used gas
discharge lamp and utilized extensively in plant growth applications due to its
reasonable energy efficiency and life span. Afterward, the introduction of metals
such as mercury and sodium into the discharge tube improved the illumination as
the electrical current was channelized through the vaporized metal. The first widely
accepted design for the mercury vapor lamp was produced by P.C. Hewitt in 1901.
This design was further improved by various others, and in 1936, the first modern
high-pressure gas discharge lamp was launched by Philips. In the following decade
gas discharge lamps having higher luminous efficacy and better spectral output such
as metal-halide lamps and high-pressure sodium lamps were developed.
High-pressure discharge lamps have been the preferred light source for crop pro-
duction in controlled environment agriculture. The high PAR emission with rela-
tively high percentage of blue radiation, long life span, and the electrical efficiency
in the range of 25–40% make these lamps an option to replace daylight totally or
partially supplementing it for year-round cultivation (Simpson 2003). However,
conventional light sources suffer from the poor ability of efficient use of energy.
Further, the spectral quality specific to photosynthesis as well as photomorpho-
genesis cannot be controlled during lighting treatment. Such limitations of

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1 Artificial Lighting System for Plant Growth and Development … 3

conventional light sources accelerated the emergence of LEDs as potentially viable

and promising artificial light source in controlled environment agriculture. The
practical implementation of LEDs originated from the experiment of Henry Josef
Round, a radio engineer in Marconi Labs, who observed the emission of light from
a silicon carbide crystal when a current flowed through the material. This was the
very first demonstration of a solid-state lighting, and the light produced is based on
an electroluminescence effect (Round 1907). In spite of this breakthrough, tech-
nological advancement of LEDs was relatively slow until the 1960s (Schubert
2003). Since the invention of the first commercial LED in the late 1960s, there has
been a gradual improvement in LED design with the advancement of semicon-
ductor technology. The new-generation LEDs have also become a promising light
source for plant growth research and cultivation, besides its popular applications as
indicators and optoelectronic devices.
Impact of electrical lighting on plant growth and development was studied by
many scientists using contemporary incandescent lamps and electric arc lamps. As
reported by Siemens in 1880, plants illuminated by carbon arc lamps in addition to
sunlight displayed improved growth when compared to the naturally growing
plants. Studies on various food crops under tungsten-based incandescent lamps
suggested that it could be possible to grow crops independent of sunlight and could
be made to reach maturity and set seed even during the winters (Harvey 1922). In
1926, Pfeiffer reported that the duration of artificial lighting had a significant impact
on the phyto-constituents of various plants. Over the years, various electrical lamps
such as incandescent lamps (ILs), fluorescent lamps (FLs), high-pressure mercury
vapor lamps (HPMLs), high-pressure sodium vapor lamps (HPSLs), and
metal-halide lamps (MHLs) were employed for experimental plant growth appli-
cations and commercial plant cultivation. However, the potential of light-emitting
diodes (LEDs) as a photosynthetic radiation source for plant growth was first
explored in the early 1990s (Bula et al. 1991, 1992). The outcome of these studies
unveiled some of the advantageous features of LEDs and clarified certain plant
morphogenic responses related to the spectral quality of lighting source. A major
breakthrough in the LED technology was attained with the development of first
viable high-brightness blue LED by Shuji Nakamura in 1993 (Nakamura and Fasol
1997; Nakamura et al. 2000). This achievement paved the way for utilization of
LEDs in plant growth and development.
The overall aim of this chapter is to present the reader a basic introduction to
artificial lighting systems used in plant growth and development with their tech-
nological advancement over time, working principles and attributes with respect to
spectral quality, luminous efficacy, power consumption, heat generation, and life
span. Finally, a comparative assessment of the various performance parameters of
the different light sources has been presented to highlight the advantageous features
of LEDs and its potential as a photosynthetic radiation source for growing plants in
controlled environment. With a basic understanding of the electrical and optical
properties of the artificial lighting system, readers with plant science background
will be well placed to comprehend the specific function and applications of LEDs
discussed in the rest of the book.

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4 S. Dutta Gupta and A. Agarwal

1.2 History of Development and Working Principles

of Conventional Lamps

Conventional plant lighting sources include incandescent, fluorescent, high-pressure

mercury, high-pressure sodium, and metal-halide lamps. Incandescent lamps emit
light upon the heating up of a metal filament, the phenomenon being called incan-
descence. The fluorescent, high-pressure mercury, high-pressure sodium, and
metal-halide lamps are gas discharge lamps (GDLs) since they emit light generated by
an electrical discharge through an ionized gas. Emission from incandescent lamps
consists of thermal radiations, whereas GDLs emit photons by the release of energy
from thermionically excited electrons. Among the GDLs, the FLs are low-pressure
lamps, whereas the HPMLs, HPSLs, and MHLs are termed as high-intensity dis-
charge lamps (HIDLs) due to the high pressure of gases in the arc tube. This section
outlines the technological advancement toward the present-day conventional lamps
from the preliminary models and illustrates their working principles.

1.2.1 Incandescent Lamps (ILs)

Incandescence, the working principle behind ILs, is the phenomenon by which a

solid starts emanating electromagnetic radiations in the visible range upon being
heated (Kitsinelis 2011). The oldest design for the incandescent lamp proposed by
Rue in 1840 consisted of a platinum coil enclosed in an evacuated glass tube. The
design was not cost-effective due to the platinum coil. Experimental designs
replacing the platinum with charcoal, carbonized paper, and carbonized bamboo
filaments were proposed by others. The challenges faced by the inventors included
the short life span of the filament and the blackening of the bulb caused by the
burning of the filament. The lamp developed by Woodward and Evans in 1874
comprised of a glass bulb filled with nitrogen housing a carbon rod connected to
two electrodes. In spite of this improvement in the design feature, it was not
accepted for commercialization. In 1879, Edison purchased the patent for this
design and using the model developed an incandescent bulb that not only performed
better but was also more convenient to use in a cost-effective manner. He received
the patent for this bulb in 1880 and commercialized it. However, it was only in
1904 that Hanaman and Just developed the first tungsten filament-based incan-
descent lamp which was further improved by General Electric (commonly known
as GE) in the following years. Further refinements in the tungsten filament lamp
involved the production of improved filament and the use of noble gases instead of
evacuating the bulb.
Modern ILs are composed of an airtight glass bulb with a tungsten filament
connected to lead-in wires (Fig. 1.1). The bulb is essentially made devoid of
oxygen by evacuation or by filling up with an inert gas to prevent the burning up of
the filament. The filament is made of a metal having high melting point and low

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1 Artificial Lighting System for Plant Growth and Development … 5

Fig. 1.1 Structure of an

incandescent lamp

coefficient of thermal expansion. Tungsten, possessing both these properties, has

practically been the only metal used for producing the filament for ILs since the
early twentieth century. The two lead-in wires connected to either ends of the
filament are connected to the external circuit. The lamp operates when the electrical
current flows in from one lead wire, through the filament and out of the second lead
wire. As the filament has higher resistivity than the lead-in wires, it impedes the
flow of electrons. The inelastic collisions between the moving electrons and
the electrons within the filament lead to the conversion of the kinetic energy of the
moving electrons into atomic vibrational energy. This causes the filament to
gradually heat up and start dissipating energy as electromagnetic radiations. As the
temperature of the filament rises up to almost 2800 K, it emits radiations in the
entire visible range, with the intensity of radiations increasing from 400 to 700 nm.
A significant portion of the energy is also dissipated as far-red emission which can
reach up to 60% of the total PAR.
Early trials with ILs exhibited their potential for usage in indoor cultivation
during winters as they not only produced a broad-spectrum emission but also
provided warmth to the plants. However, the operations were not deemed eco-
nomically feasible owing to the low luminous output in exchange of the high
electricity input. Heat losses and poor electrical efficiency outweighed the gain in
plant growth and yield. The energy conversion efficiency for the various modern
ILs ranged between 1 and 5%, with the luminous efficacy never exceeding 20 lm/W
(lumens/watt). Availability of power-efficient and long-lasting GDLs gradually
replaced the ILs as a light source for indoor cultivation. Moreover, high power
consumption along with low luminous efficacy has led to the phasing out of ILs,
banning their manufacture, import, and sales in many countries.

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6 S. Dutta Gupta and A. Agarwal

1.2.2 Gas Discharge Lamps (GDLs)

The carbon arc lamp demonstrated by Sir Humphry Davy in 1809 was the pre-
decessor of all modern GDLs (Zissis and Kitsinelis 2009). The arc lamp worked on
the principle of sustaining an electric arc or flow of electricity between two elec-
trodes via an intervening gaseous medium. Davy’s arc lamp involved the electrical
breakdown of air or ionization of air molecules which maintained an electrical
discharge between two carbon electrodes resulting in thermionic excitation of
electrons leading to the emission of faint light. Lightning, a common natural phe-
nomenon, is an example of an electric arc formed by the breakdown of molecules
present in the air. In 1857, Heinrich Geissler demonstrated the world’s first
low-pressure mercury vapor discharge lamp. The mercury vapor discharge lamp
produced a strong greenish-blue glow but had a short operating life. Peter Cooper
Hewitt patented the mercury vapor lamp in 1901 after making certain improve-
ments in Geissler’s design. However, the application of this lamp was limited
owing to the characteristic color of light it gave off. During that period, many
scientists including Edison and Tesla tried to improve gas discharge lamps but
success was limited. In 1906, a high-pressure mercury vapor lamp having a quartz
arc tube was developed by Küch and Retschinsky. The next major step was the
successful application of fluorescent coatings on the inside of the glass arc tube of
mercury lamps by Compton in 1934. Application of halophosphate phosphor
coatings resulted in the emission of white light from the low-pressure mercury
vapor lamps. Philips launched the first high-pressure mercury vapor lamps in 1936,
whereas General Electric became the first to commercially produce fluorescent
lamps in 1938. Several experiments revealed that vaporized metals had a better
emission spectrum at high pressures than at low pressures. However, glass arc tubes
that could withstand such high pressures along with the high operating temperature
without reacting with the vaporized metal were not available at that period. In 1955,
R.L. Coble developed an aluminum oxide ceramic that could be used for making
the arc tube for high-pressure sodium lamps. In 1962, metal-halide lamps were
developed by Robert Reiling who introduced halides of metals in the high-pressure
mercury lamp, resulting in a better emission spectrum than the mercury vapor ones.
High-pressure sodium lamps emitting bright white light developed by Homonnay,
Louden, and Schmidt were launched commercially in 1964.

1.2.2.1 Fluorescent Lamps (FLs)

As mentioned earlier, FLs are low-pressure mercury vapor discharge lamps that
produce visible light due to the fluorescence of a phosphor coating. FLs may be
divided into two classes on the basis of their shape and size—tubular and compact
(Fig. 1.2). Although the luminous efficacies of the two designs differ significantly,
the working principle for both types of FLs is essentially the same. Both of them
consist of an airtight hollow glass tube filled with a mixture of mercury and argon

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1 Artificial Lighting System for Plant Growth and Development … 7

Fig. 1.2 Tubular (a) and compact (b) fluorescent lamps

Fig. 1.3 Components (a) and functioning (b) of a fluorescent lamp

vapors in a low-pressure environment (Fig. 1.3a). The inert gas present in the arc
tube promotes the ionization of the gaseous metal (mercury) atoms. The two ends of
the tube have electrodes composed of tungsten filaments projecting into the vapor
mixture. Upon the passage of electricity, the filament gets heated up and starts
emitting electrons (Simpson 2003). Since FLs work on alternating current, the two
electrodes alternately emit electrons every half cycle. The electrons get accelerated

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8 S. Dutta Gupta and A. Agarwal

toward the opposite electrode through the mercury vapor mixture due to the applied
voltage. The electrons collide with the valence electrons of the mercury atoms
causing electron impact ionization which leads to the release of more free electrons
into the vapor mixture, a condition also referred to as breakdown. At this stage, the
vapor starts conducting electricity freely. The mobile electrons cause the excitation
of the other electrons in the outer orbitals of the mercury atoms. The excited
electrons fall back to the ground state and in the process emit radiations in the UV
range (Fig. 1.3b). These high-energy UV photons are absorbed by the phosphor
coating which fluoresces or starts emitting photons of lower energy, i.e., within the
visible range. Since the emission spectrum of an FL entirely depends upon the
phosphor coating, a wide variety of phosphors have been used for developing white
and colored FLs.
Energy losses in an FL occur in the ballast which supplies a pulse of high
voltage to initiate the discharge. However, a significantly higher amount of energy
is lost during the conversion of UV rays into visible light where almost half the
energy of each photon is lost as heat. Since they were first launched commercially,
fluorescent lamps (FLs) have been modified significantly for improving the lumi-
nous efficacy and reducing the cost of production. However, the overall energy
conversion efficiency of the FLs is still below 30% (Shur and Žukauskas 2005). FLs
have been a popular source of plant lighting in small- and large-scale operations
owing to the white light output that appositely mimics daylight. Approximately
90% of the photons emitted are in the PAR region. However, spectral output of FLs
cannot be regulated and the surface of the lamp becomes considerably hot during
operation.

1.2.2.2 High-Intensity Discharge Lamps (HIDLs)

HIDLs, also known as high-pressure discharge lamps, operate at very high pres-
sures and temperatures. Like FLs, HIDLs also work on the principle of electric
discharge through a gas and require ballasts for creating a striking voltage and
maintaining the arc. However, the high operating pressure and temperature of
HIDLs plays an important role in improving the spectral output and increasing the
luminous efficacy. This is due to the fact that vaporized metals conduct electricity
better under high pressure leading to higher number of electron excitations and
more thermionic emissions (Kitsinelis 2011). HIDLs may be broadly classified into
three types depending upon the “fill-gas” or vapor used—mercury, sodium, and
metal halide (Fig. 1.4). It is worthy to note that all HIDLs essentially contain
mercury in the fill-gas along with the other vapors.
As in FLs, the HPMLs contain a mixture of mercury and argon vapors, but at
almost 200,000 times the pressure in an FL. The vapors are maintained in a quartz
arc tube to withstand the high pressure and operating temperature (Fig. 1.5). The
arc tube is housed inside an outer envelope made of borosilicate glass filled with
nitrogen. The ionization of mercury atoms is triggered by the emission of electrons
from the tungsten electrodes. However, due to the high pressure, the frequency of

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1 Artificial Lighting System for Plant Growth and Development … 9

Fig. 1.4 High-pressure mercury lamp (a), high-pressure sodium lamp (b), and metal-halide
lamp (c)

Fig. 1.5 Design features of a

high-pressure mercury vapor
lamp

electron impacts on the mercury atoms becomes very high. This leads to the gen-
eration of a huge amount of heat. As a result, the mercury electrons get ionized to
higher excitation states, leading to the emission of radiations at certain wavelengths
in the visible range along with the UV radiations. A phosphor coating provided on
the outer envelope converts the UV radiations into different visible wavelengths,
resulting in white light (Kitsinelis 2011).

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10 S. Dutta Gupta and A. Agarwal

Despite the high-pressure discharge conditions, HPMLs have a luminous effi-

cacy of around 60 lm/W. High lumen output has made the HPMLs suitable for
various applications such as overhead lighting in factories and warehouses as well
as street lighting.
The HPSLs have greater coverage over the visible spectrum than the mercury
vapor lamps due to the presence of sodium vapors along with mercury in the arc
tube. Further, the tube is pressurized with xenon instead of argon. The vapors are
maintained within a ceramic or polycrystalline alumina tube which can withstand
the corrosive nature of sodium vapors at high temperature and pressure (Kitsinelis
2011). The excitation of mercury and sodium atoms occurs by the bombardment of
electrons from the tungsten electrodes. The electron impact ionization coupled with
thermal ionization results in electrons jumping to various higher energy states,
while falling back to the ground state, the electrons emit electromagnetic radiations
covering a wide range in the visible spectrum. The components of HPSLs are
depicted in Fig. 1.6.
Higher luminous efficacy (80–125 lm/W) and broad emission spectrum of
HPSLs have made them a popular source of electrical lighting in public spaces and
industrial buildings. A high emission peak in the 560–610 nm range renders a
distinct yellow coloration to the light produced which limits its applications.

Fig. 1.6 Structure of a

high-pressure sodium vapor
lamp

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1 Artificial Lighting System for Plant Growth and Development … 11

Further, the unbalanced spectral quality in relation to the absorption peaks of

chlorophyll a, b and b-carotene makes them unsuitable for promoting photosyn-
thesis and photomorphogenesis. Compared to other conventional light sources,
HPSLs with high electrical efficiencies of 30–40% are the most energy-efficient
light sources used in plant growth.
The metal-halide lamp is a modified version of high-pressure mercury vapor
discharge lamp. The inclusion of metal halides along with the mercury vapor and
inert gas permits the optimization of the spectral quality of the emitted radiation to a
certain extent. Metals such as sodium, scandium, indium, thallium, and dysprosium
are used in MHLs because of their characteristic emission spectra in the visible
range. Generally, iodides, and sometimes bromides, of these metals are chosen
because they are easier to vaporize and ionize than the pure metals as such. Like the
other HIDLs, the pressurized gas is maintained within the arc tube and the same
mechanism of operation is followed for electron excitation and light emission
(Fig. 1.7). However, the outer casing is made of UV-filtering quartz glass to block
the UV radiations of mercury. Since the light emitted by the lamp is a mixture of the
radiations by the individual metals present in the vapor mixture, changing the
combination of the metal halides allows the production of MHLs with various
emission spectra (Simpson 2003). MHLs have an evenly distributed spectral output
and produce white light with a high luminous efficacy of 100–120 lm/W. MHLs
can be used in plant growth applications due to its high PAR, relative high
percentage of blue radiation, and energy efficiency of approximately 25%.

Fig. 1.7 Structure of a

metal-halide lamp

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12 S. Dutta Gupta and A. Agarwal

1.3 Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)

LEDs are known as solid-state light sources because they emit light from a semi-
conductor diode chip. Although the emission of light from ILs also occurs from a
solid (filament), the cause of electromagnetic radiations is quite different from the
LEDs. The ILs emit radiations due to the heating up of the filament, whereas LEDs
emit light due to the transition of electrons from higher to lower energy orbital’s.
GDLs emit radiations due to release of excess energy from electrons too, but the
source of energy is thermionic excitation due to the electric arc. In LEDs, the elec-
trons are not impelled into higher excitation states but simply driven by the electrical
potential difference from a higher energy orbital to a lower one. In this section, the
major landmarks in the development of LEDs have been briefly outlined and the
basic working principle of LEDs pertinent to plant scientists has been discussed.

1.3.1 Development of LED Technology

A LED is a solid-state semiconductor device that emits light upon the flow of
electricity (Fig. 1.8), following the principle of electroluminescence.
Electroluminescence is the emission of light when electrons driven by an electrical or
magnetic field enter a lower energy orbital and release the excess energy in the form
of electromagnetic radiations. The phenomenon was first observed by H.J. Round in
1907 while working with silicon carbide (SiC). In 1927, Oleg Losev proposed a
theory behind the phenomenon and outlined various practical applications of the
technology (Zheludev 2007). Later, in 1955, R. Braunstein reported the emission of
infrared radiations from various semiconductor alloys. James Biard and Gary Pittman
(1961) of Texas Instruments accidentally discovered the emission of infrared radi-
ations from gallium arsenide (GaAs) semiconductor upon the passage of electricity,
while working on solar cells. They patented the design as “semiconductor radiant
diode” in 1962, and that was the world’s first light-emitting diode (LED). In the same

Fig. 1.8 Historical development of semiconductor materials used for LED fabrication

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1 Artificial Lighting System for Plant Growth and Development … 13

year, Nick Holonyak Jr. designed the world’s first LED producing visible light
(red) using a gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP) diode. Ten years later, Holonyak’s
student M.G. Craford designed the GaAsP-based yellow LED and high-brightness
red and red-orange LEDs. However, the LEDs being produced were too costly and
were bright to an extent to be used only as indicators. In 1970, improvements in
semiconductor fabrication and packaging techniques by Jean Hoerni and Thomas
Brandt led to the drastic reduction in the cost of manufacturing LEDs. Initially, the
development of light-emitting semiconductor technology was associated with red
and infrared radiations. The lack of a viable blue LED hindered the utilization of this
technology to plant growth applications. H.P. Maruska designed the first blue LEDs
based on gallium nitride (GaN) in 1972. However, Maruska’s LEDs had limited
applications due to its low level of brightness. In 1994, Shuji Nakamura presented the
design for a high-brightness blue LED employing an indium gallium nitride (InGan)
diode. The newly developed LED with a peak emission wavelength of 450 nm was
found to be suitable for use in studies on plant growth and development. The
wavelength matches with the maximum absorption peak of plant photoreceptors of
carotenoids. For this revolutionary invention of efficient blue LEDs which has
enabled energy-efficient bright white light sources, the Nobel Prize in Physics 2014
was awarded jointly to Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura. Over
the years, gradual advancements in diode fabrication techniques have resulted in
further reduction in the cost and significant increase in the luminous (lm/W) as well as
photon (µmol/J) efficiencies.
Various semiconductor materials have been used since Holonyak’s
GaAsP-based model for fabricating red, green, blue, and white LEDs. Choice of the
semiconductor alloy was guided by the need to increase the range of emission
wavelength and luminous efficacy of the new LED as compared to its predecessors.
The historical development of semiconductor material systems associated with
improved performance of LEDs in terms of luminous efficacy is shown in Fig. 1.8.
Further enhancement in luminous output and power efficiency could be attained by
increasing the efficiency of radiative recombination (electron–hole pairing leading
to photon emission) within the LEDs. This was achieved via bandgap engineering
by the use of heterostructures and quantum wells. Advancements in epitaxial crystal
growth techniques enabled the formation of customized heterostructures and
quantum wells in LED chips (Schubert 2003). The technology led to the devel-
opment of power-efficient high-brightness LEDs that have sufficient luminous
output with desired wavelength to sustain optimal plant growth. Such LEDs are
made from binary direct bandgap alloys from groups III–V elements of the periodic
table, namely aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs), aluminum gallium indium
phosphide (AlInGaP), and aluminum indium gallium nitride (AlInGaN).
Availability of high-brightness LEDs with spectral output matching with the action
spectra of photosynthesis and photomorphogenesis created the platform for the
LED-based plant illumination system (Tamulaitis et al. 2005).

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14 S. Dutta Gupta and A. Agarwal

In the near future, LED luminaries can become the smart solutions for sustaining
plant growth in controlled environment agriculture and regulating morphogenic
responses in plant tissue culture.

1.3.2 Structure and Working Principle of LED

The LED comprises a semiconductor chip housed within an epoxy or plastic lens,
with connecting wires for directing the electrical current. The dual in-line package
(DIP) LED (Fig. 1.9a) has been the most commonly used LED design. The newly
developed high-power LEDs (Fig. 1.9b) produce higher luminosity due to higher
current flow than the DIP-LEDs. The components of the DIP and high-power LEDs
have been depicted in Fig. 1.10. The chip is a small (approximately 1 mm2 in size)
semiconductor wafer that has been impregnated with specific impurities or dopants.
There are two types of dopants: n-type, i.e., elements having a high number of
valence electrons, and p-type, i.e., elements having a high number of empty slots or
“holes” in the valence shell. The p-type- and n-type-doped semiconductor crystals
are fused together to form a “p–n heterojunction.” As the electric current moves
across the diode from the p-side to the n-side, electrons from the n-side cross over

Fig. 1.9 Dual in-line package (a) and high-power (b) light-emitting diodes

Fig. 1.10 Components of conventional DIP (a) and modern high-power (b) light-emitting diodes

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1 Artificial Lighting System for Plant Growth and Development … 15

to the p-side. These electrons now fall into the vacant spaces in the orbitals of the
p-type dopant resulting in “electron-hole pairing.”
As the energy of the newly acquired orbital is lower than the energy possessed
by the electron, the excess energy is liberated as electromagnetic radiation having a
specific wavelength or color. This wavelength corresponds to the difference in
valence shell energies of the p and n dopants (Fig. 1.11). The phenomenon can be
mathematically expressed as DE = (hc)/k (DE = change in energy of an electron,
h = Planck’s constant, c = velocity of light, k = wavelength of light). By virtue of
its constituent dopants, an LED is capable of emitting light at a fixed wavelength
only.
The application of red and blue monochromatic LEDs alone or in combinations
has been reported for plant morphogenesis both in vivo and in vitro over the
decades (Bula et al. 1991; Kim et al. 2005; Massa et al. 2008; Dutta Gupta and
Jatothu 2013; Agarwal and Dutta Gupta 2016). However, such LED lighting suffers
from the waveband mismatch with the photosynthetic action spectrum and the high
fabrication cost of the complicated circuit. Application of white LEDs eliminates
the likelihood of such an event since they have a broad spectral output. Moreover,
constructing a circuit with only white LEDs is relatively simpler than making a
red-blue mixed LED panel because the voltage requirements of red and blue LEDs
differ significantly. White LEDs can be fabricated by using a combination of red,
green, and blue LED units in the same fixture (Fig. 1.12a). Such LEDs are called
trichromatic or tetrachromatic depending upon the combination of monochromatic
LEDs used (Lei et al. 2007). White LEDs made by red, green, and blue LED
clusters have a tunable spectral output controlled by the drive current through
individual red, green, and blue LED units (He and Zheng 2010). Phosphor-coated

Fig. 1.11 Working principle of an LED

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16 S. Dutta Gupta and A. Agarwal

Fig. 1.12 Types of white LEDs produced by RGB color mixing (a), phosphor coating in UV and
blue LEDs (b) and a hybrid of phosphor and color mixing (c)

blue and UV-LEDs are the preferred source of white light owing to their common
availability at low cost (Fig. 1.12b). However, the initial phosphor-coated LED
models suffered from significant energy losses at the phosphor due to low energy
conversion efficiency (Bourget 2008). Approaches are being made to develop
high-efficacy white LEDs using a hybrid model which includes colored phosphors
along with monochromatic LEDs (Fig. 1.12c). A decrease in total internal reflection
within the chip and device encapsulation with multicolor-emitting phosphors could
enhance the luminous efficiency (Pattison et al. 2016). Recently, Chen et al. (2016)
proposed the potential of Eu+-doped fluorophosphate in fabricating white LEDs for
application in plant growth.

1.4 Comparative Assessment of the Different Artificial

Lighting Systems

Although the various conventional electrical lamps used for horticultural lighting
have the capacity to boost the qualitative and quantitative yield of the plants, they all
suffer from certain limitations. Energy conservation is one of the major concerns in
controlled environment agriculture that utilizes conventional lamps, especially in
northern latitudes. New-generation LED luminaries have emerged as potentially
viable and promising plant lighting system to be used in controlled environment
agriculture. Emergence of solid-state lighting has not only offers the energy-efficient
interior agriculture but has also opened up new frontiers for studying plant response
to a specific wavelength and/or radiation quantity. A detailed comparison of the
attributes of LEDs and conventional lamps used for plant lighting is essential for
comprehensively assessing the benefits of using LEDs in indoor cultivation setups
and plant research laboratories. Lamp features such as spectral quality, luminous
efficacy, power requirement, life span, heat emission, robustness, and ease of dis-
posal are discussed in the following section for assessing the performance of each
lighting system.

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1.4.1 Spectral Quality

Availability of a proper light environment is pivotal for plant growth. Incident

spectrum and photon flux density (PFD) are two major factors that govern plant
development in response to the lighting conditions. Plants essentially utilize the
infrared, red, and blue portions of the incident spectrum for conducting photo-
synthesis and regulating numerous developmental and adaptive processes. The
typical absorption spectra of the most common photosynthetic and photomor-
phogenic photoreceptors are shown in Fig. 1.13. Chlorophylls absorb photons and
utilize the energy for photosynthesis (Anderson et al. 1995). The main absorption
peaks of chlorophyll are located in the red (625–675 nm) and blue regions (425–
475 nm). Carotenoids, the auxiliary photoreceptors of chlorophyll, absorb light
mainly in the blue region. Photomorphogenic responses including germination,
phototropism, leaf expansion, flowering, stomatal development, chloroplast
migration, and shade avoidance are regulated by three types of photoreceptors, viz.
phytochromes, cryptochromes, and phototropins (Smith 1995; Sancar 2003; Briggs
and Christie 2002). Interconvertible forms of Pr and Pfr in the red at 660 nm and in
the far-red at 730 nm, respectively, constitute the phytochrome photoreceptor
system. Phytochrome-mediated photomorphogenic responses are critically regu-
lated by the sensing of R/FR ratio (Shinomura et al. 2000). The pigments absorbing
blue light include both cryptochromes (cry1, cry2) and phototropins (phot1, phot2).
The cryptochrome system controls several aspects of morphological responses,
such as germination, leaf expansion, stem elongation, and stomatal opening. It also
regulates the circadian rhythm in flowering plants (Cashmore et al. 1999).

Fig. 1.13 Utilization of various wavebands of light for photosynthesis by chlorophylls, and for
photomorphogenesis by phytochrome, cryptochrome and phototropin

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18 S. Dutta Gupta and A. Agarwal

Phototropins are involved in the regulation of pigment content and the positioning
of photosynthetic organelles in order to optimize the harvesting of light and to
prevent photoinhibition (Spalding and Folta 2005).
Insolation (incoming solar radiation that reaches the earth’s surface) contains all
the regions of the visible spectrum along with radiations in the infrared and UV
regions. Intensity of solar radiations is relatively higher in the blue-yellow (460–
580 nm) range. Like sunlight, all conventional electric lamps, viz. ILs, FLs, and
HIDLs, are broad-spectrum light sources. The spectral quality of light (wave-
lengths) produced by different artificial lighting sources along with sunlight is
depicted in Fig. 1.14. The ILs have a continuous emission spectrum having high
proportions of photons in the infrared and red ranges, the PFD gradually reducing
toward blue. Due to the presence of phosphor coating, white FLs also have a
continuous visible spectrum with peaks near 400–450 nm (violet-blue), 540–
560 nm (green-yellow), and 620–630 nm (orange-red) that results in a balanced
white color rendition. HPMLs employing phosphor coatings also feature a similar
emission spectrum but with sharper peaks than FLs. Spectral emission of HPS
lamps exhibits peaks in the 560–610 nm (yellow-orange) region which imbues
these lamps with a predominantly yellow light output. MHLs emit a continuous
visible light spectrum with several peaks distributed evenly across the entire
spectrum. FLs, HPMLs, and MHLs are capable of delivering bright white light and
are hence also referred to as “daylight lamps.”
LEDs are essentially monochromatic light sources and have a specific emission
wavelength which is determined by the constituent elements of the LED chip. Since
LEDs for all wavelengths in the visible range are available, a wide variety of light
spectra can be obtained from LED-based luminaries by simply embedding specific
LEDs for the desired wavelengths. All conventional artificial light sources have
significant emissions in regions of the visible spectrum that plants simply do not
require. Since electrical lamps produce light at the expense of electrical energy,
delivering wavelengths of light that are not utilized by the plants becomes
impractical and a costly affair. With LEDs, it is possible to produce artificial light
with selected peak wavelength emission that closely matches the absorption peak of
a known important photoreceptor. Furthermore, the designs of ILs and GDLs do not
allow the regulation of operating light intensity. Intensity of emission from LED
lamps can be easily regulated by altering the electrical current. Thus, it is possible
to construct LED panels with specific peak emission that are utilized by plants,
having intensity control for adjusting the PFD most suited for the plants being
raised. In this way, customized LED luminaries would allow a versatile control of
radiation intensity and spectrum.

1.4.2 Luminous Efficacy and Power Requirement

Efficient conversion of electrical energy to light energy is an important factor for

selecting the light source for indoor plant cultivation. The reason being that if the

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1 Artificial Lighting System for Plant Growth and Development … 19

Fig. 1.14 Spectral outputs of the various light sources

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20 S. Dutta Gupta and A. Agarwal

electricity consumption for providing appropriate lighting conditions to the crops

becomes very high then the procedure may become economically unfeasible for
overall management of the crop production system. The luminous efficacy of
artificial light sources is a measure of luminous flux produced by the lamp per watt
of electricity consumed (lm/W). It must be noted that luminous efficacy takes into
consideration only the spectral output in visible range. Thus, lamps emitting sig-
nificant amounts of radiations in the infrared and ultraviolet regions tend to have
lower luminous efficacies compared to others. Power requirement of a lamp refers
to the wattage supply required for operating the lamp. The lower the power
requirement, the cheaper and easier it is to run any electrical lamp.
Among all artificial light sources, HPS and MH lamps have the highest luminous
efficacies (Table 1.1). However, if we consider the lumens utilized by plants, the
value gets reduced significantly since only the blue and red regions must be con-
sidered for plant use. Thus, the useful luminous output of even the most
power-efficient electrical lamps may be considered to be quite low for plant growth.
Although the luminous efficacies of conventional light sources have improved
significantly since their initial development, the values attained plateau in the range
of 80–125 lm/W (Fig. 1.15). LEDs with luminous efficacy of 80–150 lm/W are
already available in the market. Combinations of monochromatic LEDs can also be
used to produce specific spectra that may be completely utilized by the plants, thus
making the useful luminous output equivalent to the total luminous output. Further,
due to rapid advancements in LED lighting technology, it is expected that LEDs
with an efficacy of >200 lm/W will be developed within the next few years
(Fig. 1.15; US Department of Energy 2016). The power requirement of a typical
LED is 10–100 times less than most conventional lamps, thus making LED lamps
highly cost-effective (Table 1.1). Since LEDs consume less electricity, application
of this technology shall also reduce the pressure on fossil fuel reserves used for
generating electricity.

Table 1.1 Features of various electrical lamps used for plant lighting
Lamp type Spectral output Luminous efficacy Power requirement Life span (h)
(lm/W) (W)
Incandescent Broad spectrum 20 15–1000 1000
Fluorescent Broad spectrum 100–120 5–125 1000–30,000
HPM Broad spectrum 60 100–250 10,000–20,000
HPS Broad spectrum 80–125 35–1000 10,000–30,000
Metal halide Broad spectrum 100–120 35–400 10,000–20,000
LED Specific 80–150 0.1–5 >50,000
wavelengths

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Fig. 1.15 Timeline of improvement in the luminous efficacies of various artificial lights

1.4.3 Heating of the Lamp

Dissipation of heat from the lamp is undesirable for indoor farming as well as for
in vitro propagation from various aspects. Artificial light sources generating a lot of
heat tend to raise the ambient temperature, a situation which may affect the quality
of crops and the process of morphogenesis during in vitro culture. Additionally, this
increases the load on the cooling system used for maintaining the temperature,
leading to an increment in the electricity consumption. Furthermore, such light
sources need to be placed at a safe distance from the crops/cultures as direct
exposure to the heat may prove to be fatal. In vertical farming models where the
crops are grown in tiers, using light sources having lower surface temperatures
allows the placing of crops closer to the light source, thus giving more space for
constructing more tiers and obtaining a higher yield per volume of the farming
space. This notion is also applicable for in vitro culture. Dissipation of heat to the
surroundings during any form of energy conversion has been considered as a loss of
energy from the system. Since light sources having cool operating temperatures lose
lesser energy to the surroundings in the form of heat, they are able to convert
electrical energy to light energy more efficiently.
All conventional lamps involve heating up of the conducting medium as an
essential step for operation. Inelastic collisions of electrons occurring in ILs and
GDLs liberate a lot of heat energy, a condition absent in LEDs. Like all other
devices conducting electricity, LEDs also generate heat due to their intrinsic
resistance at the p-n junction. However, the heat generated is negligible as com-
pared to that in the conventional lamps. Furthermore, incorporation of heat sinks in
modern high-power LED designs (Fig. 1.10b) allows the LED to keep on operating
at cool temperatures even while conducting significantly higher electrical currents.

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22 S. Dutta Gupta and A. Agarwal

LEDs have a cool surface temperature and are safer for growing plants as they
practically do not emanate any heat as compared to the ILs and GDLs (Mitchell
et al. 2012).

1.4.4 Life Span, Dimming, Directionality, Robustness,

and Safety

Life span of the luminaire affects the overall operating cost because frequent
replacement of a large number of lamps on a commercial scale involves a huge
capital input on a regular basis. Conventional lamps gradually wear out from within
owing to the extremely high operating temperatures. Due to the low working
temperature, LED components do not wear out easily and that extended its life span
by several thousand hours (Table 1.1).
As the IL and GDL illumination units grow old, precipitations on the inner
surface tend to make the lamp dim. Hence, despite the lamp functioning optimally,
the luminosity produced by it gets reduced. LEDs are solid-state light sources that
do not contain any vapors or gases nor involve vaporization of elements, thus
eliminating the chances of dimming due to precipitations.
All conventional artificial light sources, by virtue of their design, emit light in all
directions. The use of reflective coatings in fixtures reduces the loss of light within
the fixture. However, the luminous flux or the total useful light obtained in the
desired direction becomes significantly lower than the total light produced by the
lamp. An artificial light source with directionality of light emission can be used to
provide greater luminous flux to the plants with significantly lower fixture losses.
An LED contains a reflective cavity housed within the epoxy cover that concen-
trates all the photons in a single direction. Furthermore, half-isotropic spatial pattern
of LEDs makes them directional emitters. LEDs with a small viewing angle and the
use of secondary optics such as collimator lenses can improve the luminous efficacy
by directing the light toward the plant canopy.
Small size and robustness of lamps also increase their desirability. Small illu-
mination units occupy a small volume and provide more space for growing crops,
especially in vertical farms. Further, lamps made of durable materials are easy to
handle and thus more user friendly. Artificial light sources devoid of hazardous
materials such as mercury are preferable from the point of view of disposal. ILs and
GDLs are made up of different types of glass filled with various gases. Users have
to exercise caution while handling such lamps. GDLs contain mercury which is
highly toxic when released in the environment, making the disposal of spent GDLs
a matter of concern. HIDLs get highly pressurized during operation, thus making
them quite unsafe in case of any manufacturing defects. Luminaires for such lamps
are often large and make them uneconomical in terms of space. On the contrary,

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LEDs are small, solid-state lamps housed within epoxy or plastic lens. LEDs are,
thus, not only more robust and easy to handle, but also occupy a very small portion
of the space being utilized for growing plants. Advantages of LEDs over con-
ventional electrical light sources from the perspective of plant growth and devel-
opment are listed as follows:
• Choice of the peak emission for customized plant growth and development,
• Versatile control of the flux emission and the light spectrum,
• High luminous efficacy,
• Small size and directional light emission,
• Long life expectancy,
• Negligible heat emission,
• Does not get dim with age,
• Economical in terms of space and power (wattage) requirement,
• Plastic body, hence more robust and easy to handle, and
• Easy to dispose without any environmental hazards.

1.5 Conclusions

Application of artificial lighting as supplemental and sole light sources for growing
plants has been in practice for almost a century. Advancements in lighting technology
have allowed the implementation of electrical lamps at large scales for controlled
environment agriculture and in vitro transplant production. Conventionally, filament-
and gas-based electrical lamps, viz. ILs, FLs and the different HIDLs, have been
employed in greenhouses and controlled environment plant production units.
High-power requirement and relatively short life span of these lamps made such crop
production systems highly uneconomical. Furthermore, the lack of intelligent control
and risks in handling and disposal reduced the usefulness of ILs and GDLs for
large-scale interior agriculture. The development of power-efficient high-brightness
LEDs has been a major breakthrough in lighting technology that has dramatically
changed the scenario of plant lighting for both commercial and research endeavors.
LEDs are semiconductor light sources that have the ability to deliver photons
more precisely than all other contemporary electrical lamps. LEDs have been rec-
ognized as a new artificial lighting source to promote photosynthesis, to regulate
photomorphogenesis, and to enhance nutritional quality of leafy vegetables due to its
several aforesaid advantages. Advancements in the LED technology over time
including packaging, current drop, phosphor coatings, intelligent control of light
distribution, intensity and spectral quality along with the reduction in prices will
make LED-based illumination system a smart choice for novel open as well as closed
plant production systems.

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24 S. Dutta Gupta and A. Agarwal

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