New Fluence COO Looks Forward to Helping Greenhouse Growers Transition to LEDs

The Controlled Environment Lighting Laboratory (CELL) at Michigan State University (MSU) has a horticultural lighting system installed across multiple growing areas that is arguably the most complex and capable such solid-state lighting (SSL) system in the world. Osram Innovations and Osram Opto Semiconductors partnered to develop the enhanced version of the Osram Phytofy system, stretching the spectral flexibility with seven dedicated LED channels. The system equips the MSU horticultural department with broad flexibility to test light recipes and to experiment with changing the look and taste/smell of cultivars. Runkle and his team of researchers are using the LED system on a variety of cultivars including leafy greens. The work seeks to improve yield and productivity along with exploring the potential of impacting the essential oils in plants.