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As the world’s population grows, food output will have to grow in tandem and there are inherent challenges to meeting this increased demand. To increase food production, agriculture must embrace new technology. Coretec CEO, Michael Kraft, gave his thoughts on how the Company’s CHS technology plays an important role in developing new technologies, specifically when it comes to lighting technology in technical agriculture.
What can CHS do for the development of Quantum Dots in LEDs?
MK: Today LED manufacturers must develop high power LEDs that can support several different applications. One application in high demand is technical agriculture. The global grow light market is expected to increase to $5.47 billion by 2023 but there are challenges in the cost, technical requirements and materials needed for these applications. To create a high-power LED that can meet the technical requirements for plant growth and even accelerate growth or accentuate certain desired plant properties, LED manufacturers are actively seeking new cost-effective technologies and materials for generation 2.0 developments.
Silicon Quantum Dots (QDs) are an advanced material technology that is anticipated to play a prominent role in the future of LED lighting. They rely on semiconductor nanocrystals, which emit light when excited by electricity. Utilizing Coretec’s CHS technology Gen 2.0 LEDs can achieve specific light frequencies/colors while also increasing light output at a lower wattage. CHS can create silicon QDs more efficiently and in a more consistent quality than all other QD processes.
What does this mean for Agriculture?
MK: Using silicon QDs in LED lighting the agriculture industry can help achieve the specific colors and intensity needed to increase agricultural production beyond the capabilities of current LED technology, all at a cost-effective price point. The color spectrum of today’s LEDs is limited by the materials used. For example, “White light” LEDs are limited by the underlying blue light and the phosphors applied over the LED to convert blue, green and red colors to emulate white.
UV LEDs, which are even more complex, are very important in today’s agricultural industry, most notably for enhancing the shelf life of fruits and vegetables and in many cases to increase certain desired results like higher vitamin content or increased CBD per plant. With CHS QDs Gen 2.0 LEDs will be customizable across a vast color spectrum to include UV-A, UV-B and UV-C, hyper-reds, deep reds, deep blues, and more.
This improved color spectrum can be used across a wide range of industries, but in agriculture and farming, it is key to getting different crops to grow faster in greenhouses and vertical farming. To feed the expected 9.8 billion people by 2050, accelerated plant growth and increasing crop yields will not be enough.
Are there other use cases for CHS QDs?
MK: CHS QD LEDs will affect many different industries, not just agriculture. They will also have use in many commercial and industrial markets, providing more efficient lighting for stadiums, parking lots, warehouses, offices, hospitals, schools and city streets, to name a few, due to their ability to offer higher light output at lower power.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to lighting with QD LEDs.
To learn more about how Coretec’s CHS solution and Quantum Dot technology serves the Technical Agriculture market, please see our website https://crtg.wpengine.com or contact us at 918-494-0509.
