LED lighting

[boozeman]

found this site while doing research for my tank ...looks promissing.
www.solarisled.com
any thoughts?

[Woodstock]

Wow!! Interesting!! The life of the LED's is 50,000 There must be thousands of them to equal MH...

Release July 2006
Solaris is expected to be release in July 2006

PFO Lighting is proud to introduce the Solaris LED Illumination System. The Solaris is the first LED System designed to replace Metal Halide and Fluorescent lighting for the Aquarium Reef Tanks. It has been in development for over two years. It will change the way Aquarius light their tanks from now and into the future.
The current design produces PAR light output levels equal to a 250W MH 20K. It uses 40% less energy than the Metal Halide Fixtures it replaces. The life of the LED's is 50,000 hours so it almost eliminates metal halide and fluorescent bulb replacements. All heat is radiated up and away from the tank Therefore it does not heat the water up like Metal Halide or Fluorescent. This eliminates the need for Chillers. The room air conditioner needs to work 1/2 as much since the light fixture produces only half the heat of Metal Halides which saves even more energy over traditional lighting methods.
There is a built in microprocessor that controls the Solaris. This not only eliminates timers, but it allows the unit to dim the actinic blue LEDs, white LEDs, Lunar actinic blue LEDs and Lunar White LEDS independently from 0-100%. This dimming capability opens many opportunities. The light can be adjusted from 6.5K to 22K or anywhere in between to set the ideal color temperature. Sunrise, Daylight, Cloud Cover, Sunset, and the lunar cycle can all be set independently.
In late 2006 we expect to have a 400W 20K Metal Halide Equalivant available.
Coral Growth has been outstanding with the new lights with excellent water penetration of the light. Many authors have been testing the units out since early May and will be printing their results shortly.

Multiple Patents Pending- Site is under construction. Hey so is the Solaris. They should both be done in July!

[reefjitsu]

There must be thousands of them to equal MH...

Not thousands, there are a bunch of them, but not thousands. These are not the same LEDs you grew up with. The new generation LEDs are far superior to the old ones. Also, they are very bright for their size, produce a more customizable spectrum and use far less energy than their counterparts. The price is the only letdown right now, but you can expect that it will come down.

I feel that LEDs will be the wave of the future for this hobby. I think they will help to close the gap between our supposed reef and eco-friendliness and our needs for energy. Our practices in regards to energy are extremely wasteful but using LEDs may help to eliminate this.

[Gina]

Looks interesting that's for sure!
In Maryland our electric bill is expected to rise 72% starting July 1st and it kinda scares me to think of what our electric bill is going to look like.

[Kensn]

Looks very interesting. No bulb replacement.... They mention the penetration of the light through the water... That is the one spec I would be interested in seeing. Probably real spendy, but would pay for itself through no bulb replacement, and lower electric bills.

Interesting.....

[BoomerD]

I've been reading about using LED's to replace aquarium lights for a couple of years. Apparently, someone in Europe (Germany?) has been experimenting with it pretty heavily. One trial hood I saw had what appeared to be hundreds of blue & white LED's in it. The lighting appeared to be outstanding, but there were quite a few "kinks" to be worked out before it could be mass marketed. It's a great idea if it can be done right. Lower electrical consumption, little to no heat generated, custom "color-tuning" of the color temps to suit your particular need/want. We'll see how this pans out.

[boozeman]

not to mention the possibility of not having to buy/use a chiller

[Boomer]

Interesting this post just came upm as I just posted on it the other day elsewhere. Here is what I said;


Phil Thackray, a electrical engineer and expert on this subject is a friend of mine. He has done all the calculations on a reef LED system. Phil let Chrarlie and Julian use some of it in their new book TRA III ( lots of new light stuff in this book). I have the whole unpublished article. It is excessively deep and technical. In short for those that have not seen it. Reefkeeping mag wanted it rewriten as it was to techncial. So it may end up in Advanced Reefkeeping, if it gets published at all. Phil seems to be MIA the last few months.

Phil calculated the cost to replace 2-250 W MH 14K DE and 2 110W VHO actinics on his 75 gal tank with white LES's. He used a Li-Cor 192SA PAR sensor and measured his current lighting system. He measured 450umol/m2/s halfway down the tank on the birghtest spot. His calcualtion gave he could get 456 umol/m2/s at the surface. The cost for the power supply, circut boards, reflectors, associated parts and labor to asemble this LED array would be $5,000.00

There will/may be a heat issue. High wattage LED's, like 5 watt ones, produce allot of heat. A hobby of mine is collecting flashlights and a small flashlight with just 1 5 watt LED gets very hot. Many of these or those with more than 1 5 watt need heat-sinks built ( the design of the flashlight body) into the flashlight. Lower wattage LED's don't have much of an issue you just need lots of them

Phils test sytem;

An array of 600 diodes/reflectors consuming 720 Watts of electrical power. The LED's are 1.2 W and each LED can put out 21 lumens/watt.


I have the unpublished paper sent to me for review

[boozeman]

cool

[Woodstock]

Neato, we get an inside scoop

Hummm... hot and expensive?!

[Snelly40]

u guys say expensive. how expensive is expesive and what can we expect to see as a price tag?

[reefjitsu]

Includes Solaris LED Hood, 8’ Detachable Cord to Remote 120V Power Supply, and Moon Lights. The system will be set for approximately 20K color. Without the Control Module the color will not be adjustable. The control module needs to be installed at the factory at time of order. (Note: PFO reserves the right to make changes without prior notification.)

Warranty:
The system is warranted for two years to the original purchaser. However, the white LED’s are expected to last 50,000 hours and the blue LED’s are expected to last 100,000 hours.
Installation Precautions:
The LED’s will have premature failure if they get too hot for an extended period of time. Ensure that there is good air circulation around hood. It is best to mount the LED’s over the tank via the stands or PFO Pendant Hanger Kit(Not Included). Be extremely careful about air circulation mounting inside canopies. If installing in canopies be aware the cables come out the end and add length for cable bending beyond stated length.


SOLARIS
Pricing Effective Through May 4, 2006

13” $449.00 24” $799.00 36” $1,229.00 48” $1,499.00 60” $1,799.00 72” $1,999.00
The expected ship date is scheduled for early July 2006. However, PFO Lighting reserves the right to change the date due to unforeseen circumstances.

This product is already patented and will be out soon.

I added it up and it is pretty competitive with all current lighting schemes if you figure on changing bulbs every 6-8 months like you are supposed to. It will actually be cheaper in the long run if you figure in electrical costs.

[boozeman]

thanks for pricing post

[reefjitsu]

I re-read my earlier post and forgot something. The ad I posted does not list the full features of the product. The lighting spectrum is full adjustable and it can simulate weather conditions like cloudy days, even simulate a cloud passing over.

[Woodstock]

I wonder if there is an additional charge for the 'control module'??

The system will be set for approximately 20K color. Without the Control Module the color will not be adjustable. The control module needs to be installed at the factory at time of order.