THE COST OF ARTIFICIAL LIGHT FOR PLANT IRRADIATION

Lack of natural light in part of the year is a handicap for complete cultural control of many horticultural crops.
There is a growing interest in the application of artificial light for plant irradiation in commercial horticulture and this had led to questions on the operating cost of installations.

Information was therefore collected regarding different installation types, with the source of light and purpose of application differentiated:

• incandescent lamp installations for daylength effects: fixed and mobile installations, continuous and cyclic lighting;

• fluorescent and high-pressure mercury vapour lamp installations to increase assimilation;

• fluorescent and high-pressure mercury vapour lamp installations for forcing bulbs without daylight.

Total costs were calculated for a range of values of the most important cost components.
For every installation type 8–10 different light intensities were taken into consideration, 4 different depreciation rates and 11 different kilowatt-hour cost values.

The material is arranged in such a way that total cost can be easily derived for every situation.

General conclusions may be also drawn from the material.

Symposium on Electricity and Artificial Light in Horticulture

R. Vissia

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1971.22.20