Fluid-Cooled LED Fixture with Integrated Inspection Light
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) systems are complex, costly, and inefficient due to the need for disparate lighting, environmental control, and sensing systems, which often require separate equipment and infrastructure, leading to increased energy consumption and costs.
Innovation Solution
A fluid-cooled LED-based lighting fixture with an integrated inspection light system that includes a coolant circuit for heat management, shared electrical and communication connections, and a hydronics system for waste heat utilization, reducing the need for additional cooling and air-conditioning and providing an integrated sensor platform.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional disparate lighting, environmental control, and sensing systems are used in CEA, then the systems can provide basic functionality for plant cultivation, but the overall system complexity increases and deployment becomes difficult and cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines lighting, environmental control, and sensing systems into an integrated fixture. The lighting fixture includes LED modules for illumination, a coolant circuit for temperature control, and sensor arrays for environmental monitoring, all unified in a single device that reduces deployment complexity while maintaining full functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated lighting fixture serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides photosynthetically active radiation for plant growth, acts as a heat sink through its coolant circuit for environmental temperature control, and functions as a sensor platform for monitoring environmental conditions. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate systems needed.
2Ease of operation
If separate inspection lighting systems are purchased and installed independently from grow lights, then visual inspection during night cycles is enabled, but overall costs and energy usage footprint increase
Solution Approach 1:
The inspection light system is integrated directly into the lighting fixture housing, combining grow light and inspection light functions in a single device. This eliminates the need for separate inspection lighting equipment and reduces overall system complexity while maintaining the ability to provide low-intensity green light for visual inspection during night cycles.
3Adaptability or versatility
If conventional inspection light sources configured for retrofit installations are used, then inspection lighting can be added to existing systems, but integration with standalone grow light systems is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The inspection light system is factory-integrated into the lighting fixture housing during manufacturing, creating a unified device with shared electrical connections and control systems. This integration approach eliminates the need for separate retrofit installations and complex integration work while maintaining installation flexibility through standardized mounting interfaces.
4Loss of energy
If fluid cooling systems are integrated into LED-based lighting fixtures for heat management, then energy efficiency is improved and cooling load is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lighting fixture housing serves as both the structural enclosure and the heat sink for the fluid cooling system. The coolant circuit is integrated within the housing structure, allowing the same component to perform multiple functions: mechanical support, thermal management, and structural integrity. This approach improves energy efficiency without proportionally increasing complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution decreases energy consumption by efficiently managing heat and integrating systems, reducing energy costs and enhancing the ability to control environmental conditions, thereby improving crop yields and reducing the complexity of CEA setups.
Implementation Method 1
a first copper pipe to carry a fluid coolant to extract heat generated by at least the at least one LED light source during operation of the lighting fixture
Implementation Method 2
at least one LED light source mechanically supported by the extruded aluminum frame
Data Source
AI summary
A LED-based lighting fixture for Controlled Environment Horticulture (CEH) includes a module having an inspection light system to facilitate inspection of one or more plants. The inspection light system may emit inspection light to illuminate the plants during the plants' night cycle where the intensity, wavelength, and/or duration of the inspection light may be adjusted to avoid disrupting the plants' night cycle. The lighting fixture provides a mechanical interface to mount the module and an electrical interface to provide electrical power and data communication with the module. The inspection light system may be communicatively coupled to a proximity sensor that activates or deactivates the inspection light system depending on the presence of a grower near the lighting fixture. Additionally, the modules may be deployed in arrays of lighting fixtures and used to convey additional information (notifications, environmental data) to the grower by emitting light at different intensities and/or wavelengths.