Greenhouses and Light Pollution

Greenhouses and Light Pollution

Supplemental electric lighting for greenhouses may be essential for extending the growing season in northern climates, but it comes with a not-so-hidden cost: environmental light pollution. The consequences of this pollution may range from irate neighbours in rural...

Light Transmittance through Greenhouse Glazing

Light Transmittance through Greenhouse Glazing

Ian Ashdown, P. Eng., FIES, Senior Scientist, SunTracker Technologies Ltd. Published: 18/10/01. Look at a greenhouse manufacturer’s product specifications and you will see that the light transmittance of single-pane clear glass is typically 88 to 91 percent. Compared...

Far-Red Lighting and the Phytochromes

Far-Red Lighting and the Phytochromes

Ian Ashdown, P. Eng., FIES, Senior Scientist, SunTracker Technologies Ltd. Published 18/06/04. Most LED grow lights feature blue and red LEDs whose peak wavelengths – approximately 450 nm for blue and 660 nm for red ­– have been chosen to coincide with the spectral...

The Science of Near-Infrared Lighting

The Science of Near-Infrared Lighting

Ian Ashdown, P. Eng., FIES, Senior Scientist, SunTracker Technologies Ltd. Published: 18/07/13 There is a common-sense argument being presented in the popular media that since humans evolved under sunlight, our bodies must surely make use of all the solar energy...

Melanopic Green

Melanopic Green

Ian Ashdown, P. Eng. FIES, Senior Scientist, SunTracker Technologies Ltd. Published: 18/09/03 Numerous medical studies have shown that exposure to blue light at night suppresses the production of melatonin by the pineal gland in our brains and so disrupts our...

Solid Angles

Solid Angles

Ian Ashdown, P. Eng., FIES, Senior Scientist, SunTracker Technologies Ltd.   Published: 2014/07/26 Do you suffer from math anxiety? A surprising number of us do (e.g., Wigfield 1988). I would tell you the exact numbers, but you would need to understand...