System for growing plants

Abstract

A cultivation plant (101), preferably plant (77) and / or fungi cultivation plant, with a closed cultivation room (70) comprising one or multiple supports (71) with a cultivation substrate (72) for the cultivation of plants (76) and / or fungi, wherein the cultivation plant (101) is provided with a light source (100) having a housing (70) and wherein the cultivation plant (101) is provided with a luminaire section (5) positioned inside said housing (50) of the light source (100) and wherein the cultivation plant (101) is provided with a cooling arrangement (1) for cooling the light source (100) and a climatization system (60) for cooling the environment, wherein the cultivation plant (101) is further provided with a sensor device (6) for the determination of a temperature of the light source (100) and wherein the cultivation plant (101) is further provided with a control- and / or evaluation unit (74) which is configured for adjusting the cooling capacity of the cooling arrangement (1) depending of the determined temperature of the light source (100).

Description

[0001] CULTIVATION PLANT

[0002] The invention refers to a cultivation plant with a light source, herein also referred to as a light emitting device, suitable to heat and cool the environment by controlled temperature.

[0003] Lightning is used in different variations and dimensions to illuminate different areas of living space or to provide light for plant cultivation. In the latter case, Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are mostly used with various wavelengths and combined with plantspecific spectra. To mimic the sunlight, high-power LEDs are used which are either passively cooled or actively cooled by a liquid. Actively cooled LED luminaires are specifically interesting for indoor farming or controlled environment agriculture, as described in DE 11 2010 002 533 B4 and US2013 / 0003382 A1 .

[0004] KR100959994B1 , for example, describes an LED lightning device with a watercooling possibility and sensors to activate external room venting to cool the room around the LEDs heated up by dissipation heat. KR101027205B1 describes a multispectral LED with sensors for illumination in accordance with the plant growth cycle to dim the LED based on the sensor reading and thus, produce less dissipation heat. W02014 / 140416 A1 describes an LED luminaire that uses the cover plate for up-conversion of the phosphor and has LEDs emitting light at 130°C+ / -30°C, adding to the heat dissipation into the cultivation room. DE 11 2010 002 533 B4 uses one or multiple coolants to keep a constant temperature on the specific LEDs rendering the LED cooling particular to the installed LED luminaires. US2013 / 0003382 A1 controls the coolant flow depending on the temperature of the luminaires in order to overcome condensation of humidity while cooling the LED luminaires.

[0005] As all of these LED lamps do not fully control heat dissipation, partially do operate at a controlled temperature of the luminaires, and / or cannot actively cool the cultivation room, none of these LEDs allow for highly controlled environmental conditions of the PPFD (Photosynthetically Active Photon Flux Density) and cultivation room, nor can sense and / or control, by means of sensors, the environment in dependence of and / or to control the plant cultivation by means of actively and controlled cultivation room cooling and de-humidifying, actively controlling condensation of cultivation room humidity to lower humidity with a given set point of the temperature.

[0006] Based on the prior art mentioned, the present invention's object is to provide a cultivation plant with a light source that controls the temperature of the luminaires and / or the environmental conditions of a plant cultivation confinement, the environmental conditions of said confinement by means of temperature and humidity independently of the light source cooling and / or the plant cultivation itself.

[0007] The present invention solves this problem by providing a cultivation plant having the features of claim 1 .

[0008] An inventive cultivation plant can preferably be designed as a plant and / or fungi cultivation plant. It has a closed cultivation room comprising one or multiple supports with a cultivation substrate for the cultivation of plants and / or fungi. Said cultivation plant is provided with a light source having a housing. Said cultivation plant is further provided with a luminaire section positioned inside said housing of the light source.

[0009] Said cultivation plant is further provided with a cooling arrangement for cooling the light source and a climatization system for cooling the environment. Thus two different cooling devices are used in the cultivation plant for different purposes.

[0010] The cultivation plant is further provided with a sensor device for the determination of a temperature of the light source.

[0011] The cultivation plant is further provided with a control- and / or evaluation unit which is configured for adjusting the cooling capacity of the cooling arrangement depending of the determined temperature of the light source.

[0012] It is of advantage if said cultivation plant comprises a water and / or liquid nutrient supply line to the support and / or between the supports.

[0013] Said cultivation plant can be provided with multiple plants and / or fungi. Said plants and / or fungi can be different types of plants and / or fungi.

[0014] Said sensor device can be part of the light source, preferably such that the temperature of the light emitting surface of a LED being part of the luminaries section and / or that the heat dissipation of said light emitting surface of said LED is determined by said sensor device, wherein the sensor device is preferably positioned inside said housing of the light source.

[0015] The aforementioned light source can be provided with an electrical holder with multiple LED-sockets wherein the sensor device is part of one of said light emitting diodes or of said electrical holder. The cultivation plant can be provided with a further sensor device for determining a temperature between the light source and the plant and / or fungi and / or for determining a thermal image of the space between the light source and the plant and / or fungi.

[0016] Said cooling arrangement can comprise one or more cooling channels, preferably a cooling circuit, for the guidance of a cooling fluid next to said luminaire section.

[0017] Said housing of the light source can be provided with a light emitting window and wherein said light emitting window is a cover made of materials sterilizable by common chemical sterilization agents, such as hydrogen peroxide, ozone, perchloric acetic acid, ethanol, isopropanol, steam, high-temperature sterilization, and / or ethylene oxide, wherein at least parts of the housing are preferably made of glass, Polycarbonate and / or Silicone.

[0018] The luminaire section can be formed by an array of LED’s, wherein at least one, or preferably all, LED are configured to emit light with at least one specific wavelength of emitting radiation from the electromagnetic spectrum.

[0019] Said light emitting window can be part of a cover as a physical protection of said luminaire section, wherein said cover can be provided entirely closed one-piece surface for a hermetical closure of the housing or it can be provided as segmented cover for allowing a gas exchange between the environment and the covered luminaires.

[0020] The cover can be provided as a lens for focusing and / or spreading of the light beam per luminaire.

[0021] The cover can further be provided as a secondary light emittance body for the transformation to and emittance of phosphoric, chemoluminescent, and / or fluorescent light.

[0022] The electrical holder can be partly provided with electrical insulating and thermal conductive material.

[0023] The luminaires of said luminaire section can be arranged in relation to the light emitting window in such a way as the luminous flux is in an opening angle of at least 30°, preferably > 90°. The luminaires of said luminaire section can preferably have a photon yield of at least 1 pmol / J and preferably > 3 pmol / J, measured with a light-sensitive detector.

[0024] The luminaire section can be provided as dimmable luminaires for dimming to at least to 80% of the maximum power uptake, preferably to 0%.

[0025] The luminaires of the luminaire section can be provided to be dimmed individually and / or per luminaire type and / or color and / or in series and / or in parallel.

[0026] The control and / or evaluation unit can be configured to control the luminaires by a remote signal transmission in series, whereas the information on the luminaire control is passed from luminaire to luminaire and / or from light source to light source of the cultivation plant.

[0027] Said cultivation plant can further comprise a photocell, which is positioned in the housing of the light source, wherein said photocell is configured for determining the light intensity of said light source and / or a single luminaire of said luminaire section of said light source.

[0028] The control and / or evaluation unit can be configured to control the light output of the luminaire section and / or its power consumption based on the determined light intensity and / or the determined temperature of the light source.

[0029] The control and / or evaluation unit can be configured to determine the distance between the light source to a plant and / or fungi based on the determined light intensity reflected by the plant or fungi and preferably control the intensity of the light emitted by the light source based on said determined distance.

[0030] The cultivation plant, preferably the light source, can be provided with an optical sensor for measuring the absorbance of gaseous and / or chemical moieties in the atmosphere, preferably by determining the absorbances of ultraviolet (UV), visual (VIS), near infrared (NIR) and / or infrared (IR) light of the gaseous measuring medium.

[0031] Said cultivation plant can further be provided with an optical and / or amperometric sensor, especially a photometric sensor, for the determination of the absorbance of chemicals in the liquid nutrient, preferably an aqueous solution. The cultivation plant, preferably the light source, can comprise a sensor, preferably a camera, for the determination of a heat dissipation picture and / or to detect plant growth.

[0032] Said cultivation plant can be provided with said climatization system for the control of the temperature inside said closed cultivation room, wherein said climatization system is separate from the cooling arrangement for cooling the light source.

[0033] An inventive cultivation plant, can preferably provided for the cultivation of a plant and / or fungi. Said cultivation plant can comprise the aforementioned inventive or preferred features of the aforementioned inventive cultivation plant.

[0034] The closed cultivation room can comprise one or multiple supports with a cultivation substrate for the cultivation of plants and / or fungi, wherein the cultivation plant is provided with a climatization system and with a condensate collector for the collection of condensed liquid. Said closed cultivation room is provided with a sensor for the determination of one or more ingredients, preferably the concentration of one or more ingredients, in the condensed liquid collected inside the condensate collector.

[0035] Said climatization system can be provided with a heat sink to allow environmental humidity to condensate, wherein said heat sink is provided with a guide channel or cooling ribs for guiding the condensed liquid to said condensate collector.

[0036] The cultivation plant can be provided with a fluid line between the climatization system and the cooling arrangement, wherein the cultivation plant is configured to transfer condensed fluid from said climatization system to said cooling arrangement via said fluid line.

[0037] The material of said heat sink can be a sterilizable material, preferably sterilizable by steam sterilization and more preferably the material is aluminum, copper, brass, and / or steel.

[0038] The coolant of the cooling arrangement and / or the climatization system can be based on water, water-based solutions, preferably salt solutions, and / or silicone oil and can be more preferably be the same for both, the cooling arrangement and the climatization system. The climatization system can be provided with a temperature and / or humidity sensor to control the temperature of the coolant according to the dew point at the given environmental conditions.

[0039] An electrical connection between the light source, the cooling arrangement and / or the control and / or evaluation unit can be made by one or more data transmission wire, preferably by one or more Power over Ethernet (PoE) wires and / or powerline connectors.

[0040] All electrical and data connections of the light source can be provided as wet room connections.

[0041] All electrical and data connections of the light source can be made of sterilizable material, preferably a material based on or consisting of acrylate butadiene rubber (ABR), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyacrylic rubber (ACM), bromo isobutene isoprene rubber (BUR), butadiene rubber (BR), chloro isobutene isoprene rubber (CIIR), chloroprene rubber (CR), chlorosulphonated polyethylene rubber (CSM), ethylene oxide epichlorohydrin copolymer (ECO), ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), ethylene propylene copolymer (EPM), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), tetrafluoroethylene propylene rubber (FEPM), perfluoro elastomer (FFKM), fluoro elastormer (FKM), fluorosilicone rubber (FVMQ), hydrogenate nitrile rubber (HNBR), isobutene isoprene rubber (HR), isoprene rubber (IR), nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR), nitrile isoprene rubber (NIR), natural rubber (NR), polyamid (PA), poly acrylic acid (PAA), polyanionic cellulose (PAc), pyridine butadiene rubber (PBR), poly benzimidazole (PBI), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), poly ethylene (PE), polyether block amide (PEBA), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), polyethyleneimine (PEI), poly ether-sulfone (PES), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), poly carbonate (PC), polymethacrylate (PMA), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), phenyl methyl silicone (PMQ), polyoxy methylene (POM), polypropylene (PP), poly phenylene oxide (PPO), polystyrene (PS), pyridine styrene butadiene rubber (PSBR), polytetrafluoro ethylene (PTFE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), phenyl vinyl methyl silicone (PVMQ), silicone (Q), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), thermoplastic rubber (TPR), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), vinyl methyl silicone (VMQ), and / or blends of said polymers and / or copolymers of said polymers.

[0042] All electrical and data connections can be made from metals, preferably aluminum, steel, titanium, or blends and / or alloys thereof. The housing of the light source can be made of at least two housing parts wherein these parts are demountable connected with each other in a sealed manner.

[0043] The light-emitting device may be also called LED. The light source might be a lamp with one or multiple LEDs.

[0044] Said LED is preferably made of at least one wavelength-specific luminaire. The Lamp is used in a confinement of a cultivation plant, such as an indoor farm, container, or room, in which the environmental conditions are to be kept steady or at least controlled.

[0045] Further, the light source can be used in sterile rooms as a preferred form of confinement, such as cleanrooms that are to be made sterile by means of a sterility assurance level (SAL) SAL 10’5, determined by inoculation with common bacteria, such as staphylococci, and / or pseudomonands and according to ISO 17664-1 :2021 whereas the LED has at least one cooling circuit to keep the luminaires at controlled temperature and / or to cool and / or control the environment to a specific temperature and / or humidity. Further, the LED is fitted with one or more sensor devices. This can be done with the help of an electrical holder, such as an electrical rail. Such a sensor device may be used as input for the control of the plant cultivation environment and / or the plant cultivation itself. Said sensors can preferably be integrated in the housing of the light source but it is also possible to use the sensor device as a single device not integrated in the LED.

[0046] As a further preferred embodiment of the current invention, the material of a housing of said light source may be made of materials steri lizable by common sterilization agents, such as hydrogen peroxide, ozone, perchloric acetic acid, ethanol, isopropanol, steam, high-temperature sterilization, and / or ethylene oxide, but not by eBeam, and / or gamma ray sterilization.

[0047] Advantageous embodiments of the inventions are subject matter of the dependent claims.

[0048] The invention is explained more in detail by an example with the context of a figure. It shows:

[0049] Fig. 1 a first schematic drawing of a light emitting device used in a cultivation plant according to the invention; Fig. 2 a second schematic drawing of a light emitting device; and

[0050] Fig. 3 a cultivation plant according to the invention.

[0051] Fig. 1 shows a light source 100 herein referred to as a lamp. Said light source 100 is a complex body with a cooling arrangement 1 , such as a heat sink, a condensate collector 2, a cooling liquid 3, an electrical connector 4, a luminaire section 5 with a plurality of luminaries 5a and a sensor device 6, all of which are positioned in a housing 50 of said light source 100. Said housing is provided with a light-emitting window 51 .

[0052] Each lamp has at least one luminaire section 5, i.e. a LED with at least one specific wavelength of emitting radiation from the electromagnetic spectrum. Preferably, such luminaire sections may be light-emitting diodes (LEDs) of a specific color and / or an assembly of LEDs with at least another technology, such as laser or halogen. As each luminaire in the lamp emits light and heat, and the latter as dissipation both from the lamp body as well as from the luminous flux of the luminaire, the environment in which the lamp is installed is heated up, consequently. Further, each luminaire in the lamp has a temperature, specific to the color and technology used, above which the emitted luminous flux decreases with increasing temperature. This so-called junction temperature highly influences the luminous flux and thus the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD). The PPFD is responsible for optimal CO2- fixation and ultimately for plant growth.

[0053] The temperature of a luminaire section 5, i.e. LED, has an influence on the emitted, specific wavelength as well. Thus, keeping the temperature controlled allows to keep the spectrum, comparable to non-cooled luminaires, specific.

[0054] Each luminaire is connected to at least one cooling liquid circuit that controls the temperature of the luminaire to a pre-set and / or target temperature. The pre-set and / or target temperature can be set by a commercially available control mechanism, such as a Siemens Simatic S7-15000 and measured by a closed-loop sensor, such as a commercially available sensor TST310 RTD from Endress + Hauser.

[0055] Further, the temperature per luminaire cooling circuit can be controlled to meet more complex control algorithms, such as keeping the temperature within a narrow specification band, reaching a target temperature, cycling between two or more temperatures, and alike. The lamp can have a cover forming said light emitting window 51 over the luminaires for physical protection reasons. Said luminaire cover, being either an entire or segmented cover, can either hermetically seal the luminaires from the environment or allow gas exchange between the environment and the covered luminaires. The latter overcomes potential fogging in the case the temperature and humidity of the environment are above the fogging point, compared to the temperature and humidity under the luminaire cover, and / or vice versa.

[0056] Further, the lamp cover can have secondary functions, such as focusing and / or spreading the light beam per luminaire, and secondary light emittance by phosphoric, chemoluminescent, and / or fluorescent light emittance. As an example, for a secondary function, a light beam focus or spreading can be accomplished by commercially available, optical lenses attached to, grounded into, or applied in any other way to and / or into the cover. Such lenses can be provided by, for example, by Edmund optics. As a further example, secondary light can be emitted from the cover by light excitation from one or multiple luminaires. Such secondary emitted light can be of phosphoric, fluorescent, or chemoluminescent nature. For example, phosphoric light can be realized by a blue light beam onto a phosphor element, as it is commercially available in laser-excited phosphor flashlights from Maxtoch Ltd. As another example, fluorescent secondary light can be realized by light excitation of a specific fluorochrome. These secondary lights are used in commercially available optical instruments, such as from Olympus. Chemoluminescence, as a further example, can be started and / or excited by one or multiple luminaires as a chemical reaction of at least one chemical, for example, the commercially available Luminol from Sigma Aldrich, which can be, for example, embedded, adhered, absorbed, adsorbed or with any other method affixed to and / or into the cover.

[0057] The material of the cover of the luminaires is made of a material resistant to at least one sterilization method described herein. Such materials are, for example, glass, Polycarbonate, Silicone.

[0058] The luminaires are arranged either in a row, in parallel, or in any other arrangement on a luminaire holder. The luminaire holder further can act as cooling liquid confinement.

[0059] The luminaires are arranged in such a way that the luminous flux is in an opening angle of at least 30°, preferably > 90°. The luminaires have a photon yield of at least 1 pmol / J and preferably > 3 pmol / J, measured with light-sensitive detectors, e.g. a quantum sensor, commercially available from Apogee Instruments.

[0060] The luminaires can be dimmed at least to 80% of the maximum power uptake, preferably to 0%. The dimming can be controlled by a controller, either on the lamp or remotely, for example by a programmable logic controller (PLC), such as commercially available from Siemens, or by a potentiometer, such as commercially available from Arduino. The dimming control can be done using power modulation to the luminaires, for example by a continuous voltage input, pulse-with modulation (PWM), electrical resistance, Modbus, and / or Dali signal.

[0061] In a further example, the luminaires can be dimmed individually, per luminaire type or color, in series, in parallel, or in any other mode and way.

[0062] The remote controlling of the luminaires can be done by wire or wireless connection. Commercially available wireless connections can be used, for example from Qualcomm, with suitable technologies, such as radio frequency, radar, optical, microwave, LoRa, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LPWAN, cellular networks (e.g. 3G / 4G / 5G), zigbee, satellite communication (e.g. Iridium), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), RFID, or Infrared and / or a mixture of these.

[0063] As a further example, the remote controlling of the luminaires can be done by connection in series, whereas the information on the luminaire control is passed from luminaire to luminaire and / or from lamp to lamp. Thus, the information, especially when wire-bound to a first lamp and / or luminaire, can be passed on to the next lamp and / or luminaire, e.g. specifically beneficial in rooms with a high concentration of sterilization agents, and thus, material restrictions on the wiring, and / or on the cleaning.

[0064] In a further example, the lamp body can have an embodiment for sensing the luminaires' luminous flux. Such sensors are constructed as photocells to detect reflected light intensity. For example, said sensors are commercially available from Baumer and can be calibrated to the luminaires and reflective surface, on which the light beams are reflected onto the sensor. Said sensors can be used to control, by means of a closed loop controlling, the luminaires' light output, and ultimately power consumption. As an example, and secondary use of the sensor, the sensor reading can be used to calculate the power consumption when calibrated to the power output against light sensor reading at a specific temperature of the luminaire. As a further example of a secondary use of said light sensor, the reflection of light from a plant surface can be detected and thus, the distance of the luminaire to the plant. This secondary function of the light sensor can be carried out, for example, by a second sensor with different technology, such as commercially available ultrasound distance sensors, vision systems, or other optical sensors, as provided for example by Cognex.

[0065] As a further example of the secondary use of said light sensor, the absorbance of gaseous, chemical moieties in the atmosphere can be detected. This can be realized by using commercially available light sensors, such as those used in analytical chemistry for the detection of absorbances in the ultraviolet (UV), visual (VIS), nearinfrared (NIR), and / or infrared (IR) spectrum. Such absorbance spectra can be used, for example, to detect plant exhausts in the gaseous phase of the environment for volatile organic compounds (VOC), exhausted during stress and / or normal plant growth.

[0066] As a further example of the secondary use of said light sensor, the absorbance of chemicals in the liquid phase, e.g. in the drain of the nutrition liquid, can be used to detect excrement chemicals of the plant roots, detect and / or use the information of the absorbance spectrum for a closed-loop control of the nutrition of that plant.

[0067] As a further example of the sensor, the sensor can be a commercially available vision system, e.g. such as the vision system from Cognex, to detect plant growth over time and / or at a specific time with the possibility to analyze, e.g. by means of absolute and / or relative, by quantitative and / or qualitative, and / or by color and / or color change measurements, the plant health.

[0068] To control the luminaires and their temperature, and as a further example, the luminaires can have a temperature sensor, either per luminaire or for more than one luminaire, to read the luminaire temperature. This sensor can be used as a closed- loop sensor to keep the luminaires within a constant temperature range, follow a temperature program, and / or at a constant temperature.

[0069] The cooling equipment for cooling the luminaire is thermally separated from the environment cooling by the climatization device, which makes part of the same said lamp either as one piece or as an attachment to the said lamp. The climatization device has a coolant channeling or any other coolant guidance. Additionally, the climatization device has a heat sink embodiment. The heat sink embodiment is formed in such a way as to allow environmental humidity to condense on the heat sink. Further, the heat sink is formed in such a way as to channel, guide, or in any other form let the condensate flow 11 into a condensate collecting opening 10.

[0070] With condensation of environmental humidity, the invention can be used, in a further example, to de-humidify the environment.

[0071] In a further example, the condensate collecting opening can have sensors to detect, e.g. condensate, dissolved, and / or agglomerated chemical moieties from the gaseous phase. In an alternate or additional example, the sensors can detect plant exhausts in the condensate, e.g. by commercially available detectors, such as spectrometers from Shimadzu, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) from Abeam. In a more specific example, the analysis can be done at the end-of-drain by commercially available liquid chromatography and / or gas chromatography both available from Agilent.

[0072] The heat sink can have a specific form, e.g. a radiant, star-shaped, or any other shape, allowing the condensate liquid to flow into a condensate collecting opening.

[0073] In another example of the invention, the condensate fluid can be used as a coolant or processing fluid by any other means.

[0074] The heat sink can be either passive or active, e.g. as commercially available from Celsia.

[0075] The heat sink material sustains the herein-named sterilization methods and is made, for example, from aluminum, copper, brass, or steel.

[0076] The heat sink material, the thermal insulation, and the luminaire housing are made of compatible materials, by means of overcoming galvanic corrosion.

[0077] The heat sink can have a condensate collection opening, e.g. a channel, a seepage line or pipe, a pipe with recess, or alike. The condensate collection opening can have a slope or gradient of at least 1 %, preferably > 2%, to let the condensate flow to a predefined condensate drain and / or sink. In an alternative form, the condensate collection opening can be connected to a pump or pumping system to actively collect the condensate.

[0078] The heat sink is made of a material that is chemically resistant to the condensate liquid, e.g. aluminum, or steel.

[0079] The coolant can be made of water, water-based mixtures, silicone oil, and / or other commercially available coolants and / or mixtures thereof.

[0080] The heat sink can be fitted with a temperature and humidity sensor, as commercially available by Testo. This sensor can either be a coupled temperature / humidity sensor or separated. This sensor can be used, by means of a closed-loop sensing system, to control the temperature of the coolant according to the dew point at the given environmental conditions. Specifically, this can be used to either assure condensate forming or to omit and overcome condensate forming. In the second option of an exemplary control type, the heat sink will be controlled to cool the environment without the use of condensation cooling and / or condensate collection.

[0081] The coolant of the luminaires and the coolant of the heat sink can be the same or different. Further, the coolants can have a different or the same temperature.

[0082] The lamp has an electrical connection for providing electrical energy to the luminaires and / or the sensors.

[0083] In a further variant of the invention, the electrical connection can be used as data transmission wire, such as used via commercially available Power over Ethernet (PoE) protocols or powerline connectors from Netgear.

[0084] All connections of the lamp are suitable for wet room application, as defined by Ingress Protection standard IEC 60529:2019 of at least IPx3, preferably better than IPx5.

[0085] All electrical connections 4 of the light source, herein also called the lamp, sustain the herein named sterilization methods and are made from suitable materials, e.g. acrylate butadiene rubber (ABR), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyacrylic rubber (ACM), bromo isobutene isoprene rubber (BUR), butadiene rubber (BR), chloro isobutene isoprene rubber (CIIR), chloroprene rubber (CR), chlorosulphonated polyethylene rubber (CSM), ethylene oxide epichlorohydrin copolymer (ECO), ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), ethylene propylene copolymer (EPM), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), tetrafluoroethylene propylene rubber (FEPM), perfluoro elastomer (FFKM), fluoro elastormer (FKM), fluorosilicone rubber (FVMQ), hydrogenate nitrile rubber (HNBR), isobutene isoprene rubber (HR), isoprene rubber (IR), nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR), nitrile isoprene rubber (NIR), natural rubber (NR), polyamid (PA), poly acrylic acid (PAA), polyanionic cellulose (PAc), pyridine butadiene rubber (PBR), poly benzimidazole (PBI), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), poly ethylene (PE), polyether block amide (PEBA), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), polyethyleneimine (PEI), poly ether-sulfone (PES), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), poly carbonate (PC), polymethacrylate (PMA), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), phenyl methyl silicone (PMQ), polyoxy methylene (POM), polypropylene (PP), poly phenylene oxide (PPO), polystyrene (PS), pyridine styrene butadiene rubber (PSBR), polytetrafluoro ethylene (PTFE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), phenyl vinyl methyl silicone (PVMQ), silicone (Q), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), thermoplastic rubber (TPR), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), vinyl methyl silicone (VMQ), and / or blends of said polymers and / or copolymers of said polymers. Said connections can more preferably consist of one or more of the aforementioned materials.

[0086] In a further example, the connections can be made from metals, such as aluminum, steel, titanium, or blends and / or alloys thereof.

[0087] All connections of the lamp are made in such a way as to allow a “plug and play” installation with or without additional wires. In an example of the connections, the connections have an accordion shape to allow bridging of the inter-lamp distance. In another example, connection wires can be used, whereas said lamp has only femaletype connections. As a logical consequence, for liquid connections, e.g. for the coolants, tubes are to be used instead of wires. In a further example of the connection type, the lamp can have female connectors, male connectors and / or a mixture thereof.

[0088] All connections allow the unidirectional mounting and connection of the lamp in series and / or parallel.

[0089] All connections allow the easy replacement of lamps installed in series or parallel.

[0090] All liquid connections can be made, but not necessarily, as self-closing connections, such as those commercially available from Festo. The lamp body can have, as a further example, mounting features, such as railing, hooks, connectors, magnets, a ferromagnetic body, or alike and / or mixtures of these.

[0091] The lamp body, in a further example, can be cleanable, by means of clean-in-place (CIP) procedures, as known to the pharmaceutical manufacturing under Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and / or with commercially available cleaning agents, such as water, isopropanol, ethanol and / or the products from Bohrer Chemie and / or mixtures thereof.

[0092] The lamp is constructed in such a way, that separation and / or dismantling of the parts is possible, into at least two parts for recycling purposes.

[0093] As shown in Fig. 1 , the housing 50 is provided with a wall or layer of a thermal insulation material 7 positioned opposite to the light-emitting window 51 at the housing 50.

[0094] The light-emitting window 51 can be made of a transparent material. The rest of the housing can be made of metal and / or plastic. All parts of the housing that are in contact with the environment should preferably be steril izable. The thermal insulation material must not be necessary such a part of the housing, as shown in Fig. 1 .

[0095] The cooling arrangement 1 and the luminaire section 5 are connected with a thermally conductive material 8 for the heat dissipation from the luminaire section 5, thus the material 8 has a higher thermal conductivity than the thermal insulation material 7 of the housing 50.

[0096] The light source 100 is provided with the climatization system 60, which is positioned at the thermal insulation material 7 of the housing 50. The climatization system 60 being the condensate collector 2 can be an arrangement of cooling ribs 9, positioned outside of the housing 50 of the light source 100. Thus, the climatization system 60 is provided to cool the heat dissipation from the light source and / or reduce the amount of humidity inside said closed cultivation room.

[0097] The condensate collector 2 for collecting the condensate 11 can be attached to the housing 50 in a demountable way, for example by clamping means, such as a clamping rail 12.

[0098] Thus, the climatization system 60 and the light source 100 are connected in Fig. 1 to one single device. The advantage of such a one-piece lamp with cooled LED luminaires and cooling the environment including condensation of humidity from the environment allows for a more effective heat transfer than the prior art, whereas the LED luminaires are cooled in the lamp and the cultivation room is controlled by a separate device, e.g. by an airflow or HVAC, a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system, or alike.

[0099] The same concept is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 shows in a more simplified manner a luminaire section 24, being an LED Light panel.

[0100] Fig. 2 further shows a cooling arrangement 25 being a water-cooling plate for cooling the LED. Thus, the cooling arrangement 25 is adjacent to the luminaire section 24. The cooling arrangement 25 is thermally separated from a climatization system with a condensate collector 27 and a condensate panel 28. The thermal separation is done by an insulation panel 26, which could be part of a housing of said light source, which is not shown in detail in Fig. 2.

[0101] The device comprises the light source and the climatization system which are connected, preferably fixed together. The different elements of the device are provided with coolant 21 , 23 and / or with an electrical supply 20.

[0102] The condensate 22 produced at the surface of the condensate panel 28 can be inserted and collected by the condensate collector 27. An explanation for the advantages of the use of the aforementioned elements of the device in Fig. 2 is given above.

[0103] Fig. 3 shows the general concept of a cultivation plant 101 according to the invention. The cultivation plant 100 comprises a closed cultivation room 70. This closed cultivation room 70 can, but do not necessarily need to have a sterile atmosphere. Said closed cultivation room 70 can be accessible by users but can also be performed by robotic systems.

[0104] The cultivation room 70 could also be a room inside a house. It also could be a green house or a shipping container. It is not a farmland or a roofed farmland, because the environmental conditions cannot be adequately controlled in such an environment.

[0105] The cultivation room 70 comprises one or multiple supports 71 with a cultivation substrate 72. The support 71 could be racks or frames with flower ports, gutters or the like. The cultivation substrate could be earth, cotton, wool, or the like. The substrate might also merely be a grid for holding the plant 77 above a water channel. In the case of fungi, the substrate might be a nutrient solution.

[0106] Below the substrate there is a water channel 73 for the supply of the roots of the plants with water or liquid nutrients, such as a water solution with diluted salts.

[0107] Further Fig. 3 shows the light source 100 and the climatization device 70. For the data-exchange and the control of different elements of the light source 100 in a manner described above, the cultivation plant is provided with a control- and / or evaluation unit 74 connected with the light source by wires 75. The connection can also be wireless.

[0108] Said control- and / or evaluation device is configured such that the different physical and chemical values determined by measurement can be transformed to generate further information and / or to control the conditions for the growth of the plants and / or fungi inside said closed cultivation room.

[0109] Further to this, the cultivation plant 101 is provided with an electrical supply device 76 to provide electrical power to the light source 100 and / or the climatization device 70.

[0110] Ref. numbers

[0111] 1 : cooling arrangement

[0112] 2: condensate collector

[0113] 3: cooling liquid

[0114] 4: electrical connection

[0115] 5: luminaire section

[0116] 6: sensor array

[0117] 7: thermal insulating material

[0118] 8: thermal conductive material

[0119] 9: cooling ribs

[0120] 10: opening

[0121] 11 : condensate

[0122] 12: clamping rail

[0123] 20: electrical supply

[0124] 21 coolant

[0125] 22 condensate

[0126] 23 coolant

[0127] 24: luminaire section

[0128] 25: cooling arrangement

[0129] 26: insulating panel

[0130] 27: condensate collector

[0131] 28: condensate panel

[0132] 50: housing

[0133] 51 : light emitting window

[0134] 60: climatization system

[0135] 70: closed cultivation room

[0136] 71 : support

[0137] 72: substrate

[0138] 73: water channel

[0139] 74: control and / or evaluation unit

[0140] 75: wires

[0141] 76: electrical supply device

[0142] 77: plant

[0143] 100: light source

[0144] 101 : cultivation plant.

Claims

Claims1. Cultivation plant (101 ), preferably plant (77) and / or fungi cultivation plant, with a closed cultivation room (70) comprising one or multiple supports (71 ) with a cultivation substrate (72) for the cultivation of plants (76) and / or fungi, wherein the cultivation plant (101 ) is provided with a light source (100) having a housing (70) and wherein the cultivation plant (101 ) is provided with a luminaire section (5) positioned inside said housing (50) of the light source (100) and wherein the cultivation plant (101 ) is provided with a cooling arrangement (1 ) for cooling the light source (100) and a climatization system (60) for cooling the environment, characterized in that the cultivation plant (101 ) is further provided with a sensor device (6) for the determination of a temperature of the light source (100) and wherein the cultivation plant (101 ) is further provided with a control- and / or evaluation unit (74) which is configured for adjusting the cooling capacity of the cooling arrangement (1 ) depending of the determined temperature of the light source (100).

2. Cultivation plant according to claim 1 , characterized in that said cultivation plant (101 ) comprises a water and / or liquid nutrient supply line (73) to the support (71 ) and / or between the supports (71 ).

3. Cultivation plant device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said cultivation plant (101 ) is provided with multiple plants (77) and / or fungi.

4. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said sensor device (6) is part of the light source (100), preferably such that the temperature of the light emitting surface of a LED being part of the luminaries section (5) and / or that the heat dissipation of said light emitting surface of said LED is determined by said sensor device (6), wherein the sensor device (6) is preferably positioned inside said housing (50) of the light source (100).

5. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said light source (100) has an electrical holder with multiple LED-sockets wherein the sensor device (6) is part of one of said light emitting diodes or of said electrical holder.

6. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cultivation plant (101 ) is provided with a further sensor device for determining a temperature between the light source (100) and the plant (77) and / or fungi and / or for determining a thermal image of the space between the light source (100) and the plant (77) and / or fungi.

7. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said cooling arrangement (1 ) comprises one or more cooling channels, preferably a cooling circuit, for the guidance of a cooling fluid next to said luminaire section (5).

8. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said housing (50) of the light source (100) is provided with a light emitting window (51 ) and wherein said light emitting window (51 ) is a cover made of materials sterilizable by common chemical sterilization agents, such as hydrogen peroxide, ozone, perchloric acetic acid, ethanol, isopropanol, steam, high-temperature sterilization, and / or ethylene oxide, wherein at least parts of the housing are preferably made of glass, Polycarbonate and / or Silicone.

9. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said luminaire section (5) is formed by an array of LED’s, wherein at least one, or preferably all, LED are configured to emit light with at least one specific wavelength of emitting radiation from the electromagnetic spectrum.

10. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said light emitting window (51 ) is part of a cover as a physical protection of said luminaire section (5), wherein said cover can be provided entirely closed one-piece surface for a hermetical closure of the housing or it can be provided as segmented cover for allowing a gas exchange between the environment and the covered luminaires (5a).11 . Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cover can be provided as a lens for focusing and / or spreading of the light beam per luminaire (5a).

12. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cover can be provided as a secondary light emittance body for the transformation to and emittance of phosphoric, chemoluminescent, and / or fluorescent light.

13. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electrical holder can be partly provided with electrical insulating and thermal conductive material (8).

14. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the luminaires (5a) of said luminaire section are arranged in relation to the light emitting window (51 ) in such a way as the luminous flux is in an opening angle of at least 30°, preferably > 90°.

15. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the luminaires of said luminaire section (5) has a photon yield of at least 1 pmol / J and preferably > 3 pmol / J, measured with a light-sensitive detector.

16. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the luminaire section (5) is provided as dimmable luminaires (5a) for dimming to at least to 80% of the maximum power uptake, preferably to 0%.

17. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the luminaires (5a) of the luminaire section (5) can be dimmed individually and / or per luminaire type and / or color and / or in series and / or in parallel.

18. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control and / or evaluation unit (74) is configured to control the luminaires (5a) by a remote signal transmission in series, whereas the information on the luminaire control is passed from luminaire (5a) to luminaire (5a) and / or from light source (100) to light source (100) of the cultivation plant (101 ).

19. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that cultivation plant (101 ) comprises a photocell, which is positioned in the housing (50) of the light source (100), wherein said photocell is configured for determining the light intensity of said light source (100) and / or a single luminaire (5a) of said luminaire section (5) of said light source (100).

20. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control and / or evaluation unit (74) is configured to control the light output of the luminaire section (5) and / or its power consumption based on thedetermined light intensity and / or the determined temperature of the light source (100).21 . Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control and / or evaluation unit (76) is configured to determine the distance between the light source (100) to a plant (77) and / or fungi based on the determined light intensity reflected by the plant (77) or fungi and preferably control the intensity of the light emitted by the light source (100) based on said determined distance.

22. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cultivation plant (101 ), preferably the light source (100), is provided with an optical sensor for measuring the the absorbance of gaseous and / or chemical moieties in the atmosphere, preferably by determining the absorbances of ultraviolet (UV), visual (VIS), near infrared (NIR) and / or infrared (IR) light of the gaseous measuring medium.

23. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cultivation plant (101 ) is further provided with an optical and / or amperometric sensor, especially a photometric sensor, for the determination of the absorbance of chemicals in the liquid nutrient, preferably an aqueous solution.

24. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cultivation plant (101 ), preferably the light source (100), comprises a sensor, preferably a camera, for the determination of a heat dissipation picture and / or to detect plant growth.

25. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cultivation plant (100) is provided with a climatization system (60) for the control of the temperature inside said closed cultivation room (70), wherein said climatization system (60) is separate from the cooling arrangement (1 ) for cooling the light source (100).

26. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the light source is part of a lamp, preferably a one-piece lamp, with said cooling arrangement (1 ) for cooling the light source and with said climatization system (60) for cooling the environment including the condensation of humidity from the environment.

27. Cultivation plant according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the light source, preferably in Form of LED luminaires, are cooled in the lamp and the climatization of the cultivation room by the climatization system (60) is controlled by a separate device, preferably by an airflow and / or HVAC- system.

28. Cultivation plant (101 ), preferably plant (77) and / or fungi cultivation plant and preferably according to one of the preceding claims with a closed cultivation room (70) comprising one or multiple supports (71 ) with a cultivation substrate (72) for the cultivation of plants (77) and / or fungi, wherein the cultivation plant (101 ) is provided with a climatization system (60) with a condensate collector (27) for the collection of condensed liquid (22, 11 ), characterized in that said closed cultivation room (70) is provided with a sensor for the determination of one or more ingredients, preferably the concentration of one or more ingredients, in the condensed liquid (22, 11 ) collected inside the condensate collector (27).

29. Cultivation plant of claim 28, characterized in that said climatization system (60) is provided with a heat sink to allow environmental humidity to condensate, wherein said heat sink is provided with a guide channel or cooling ribs (9) for guiding the condensed liquid (11 , 22) to said condensate collector (27).

30. Cultivation plant of any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cultivation plant (101 ) is provided with a fluid line between the climatization system (60) and the cooling arrangement (1 ), wherein the cultivation plant (101 ) is configured to transfer condensed fluid (11 , 22) from said climatization system (60) to said cooling arrangement (1 ) via said fluid line.31 . Cultivation plant of any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the material of said heat sink is a sterilizable material, preferably sterilizable by steam sterilization and more preferably the material is aluminum, copper, brass, and / or steel.

32. Cultivation plant of any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the coolant (21 , 23) of the cooling arrangement (1 ) and / or the climatization system (60) is based on water, water-based solutions, preferably salt solutions, and / or silicone oil and can be more preferably be the same for both, the cooling arrangement (1 ) and the climatization system (60).

33. Cultivation plant of any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the climatization system (60) is provided with a temperature and / or humidity sensor to control the temperature of the coolant according to the dew point at the given environmental conditions.

34. Cultivation plant of any of the preceding claims, characterized in that an electrical connection (4) between the light source (100), the cooling arrangement (1 ) and / or the control and / or evaluation unit (76) is made by one or more data transmission wire, preferably by one or more Power over Ethernet (PoE) wires and / or powerline connectors.

35. Cultivation plant of any of the preceding claims, characterized in that all electrical and data connections (4) of the light source (100) are wet room connections.

36. Cultivation plant of any of the preceding claims, characterized in that all electrical and data connections (4) of the light source (100) made of sterilizable material, preferably a material based on or consisting of acrylate butadiene rubber (ABR), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyacrylic rubber (ACM), bromo isobutene isoprene rubber (BUR), butadiene rubber (BR), chloro isobutene isoprene rubber (CIIR), chloroprene rubber (CR), chlorosulphonated polyethylene rubber (CSM), ethylene oxide epichlorohydrin copolymer (ECO), ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), ethylene propylene copolymer (EPM), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), tetrafluoroethylene propylene rubber (FEPM), perfluoro elastomer (FFKM), fluoro elastormer (FKM), fluorosilicone rubber (FVMQ), hydrogenate nitrile rubber (HNBR), isobutene isoprene rubber (HR), isoprene rubber (IR), nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR), nitrile isoprene rubber (NIR), natural rubber (NR), polyamid (PA), poly acrylic acid (PAA), polyanionic cellulose (PAc), pyridine butadiene rubber (PBR), poly benzimidazole (PBI), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), poly ethylene (PE), polyether block amide (PEBA), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), polyethyleneimine (PEI), poly ether-sulfone (PES), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), poly carbonate (PC), polymethacrylate (PMA), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), phenyl methyl silicone (PMQ), polyoxy methylene (POM), polypropylene (PP), poly phenylene oxide (PPO), polystyrene (PS), pyridine styrene butadiene rubber (PSBR), polytetrafluoro ethylene (PTFE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), phenyl vinyl methyl silicone (PVMQ), silicone (Q), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), thermoplasticelastomer (TPE), thermoplastic rubber (TPR), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), vinyl methyl silicone (VMQ), and / or blends of said polymers and / or copolymers of said polymers.

37. Cultivation plant of any of the preceding claims 1 -36, characterized in that all electrical and data connections are made from metals, preferably aluminum, steel, titanium, or blends and / or alloys thereof.

38. Cultivation plant of any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the housing of the light source (100) is made of at least two housing parts wherein these parts are demountable connected with each other in a sealed manner.

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