We went to the Cannabis Cup this weekend for research and came across an LED light the likes we’ve never seen before. A new company called Total Grow was showing off a line of fluorescent lamps with UVA and UVB spectrum and with their fluorescent-leaning lighting tendencies, they have developed a novel new LED lens/diffuser out of silicone!
The Total Grow LED light is made up of a strip of ten watt LEDs in an unremarkable fixture but it’s what happens between the diode and reflector that’s really fun. Rather than using a ton of medium output LEDs, or a lot of high output LEDs with lenses, Total Grow is going the other end of the spectrum by using the brightest single diodes available, ten watts each, and diffusing the heck out of them with a thick ‘volumetric’ silicone diffuser to really help the light create a uniform light field.
But wait there’s more! The Volumetric silicone diffuser lens-thinggies are also infused with phosphors to enhance and broaden the color and quality of the light into a usable spectrum. In this case Total Grow is producing light fixtures that are targeted at home recreational tomato (and cannabis) growers but there’s nothing stopping this rightfully patented technology from other applications like reef tanks and aquariums.
Total Grow has packaged their silicone Volumetric LED lens-diffusers in both a striplight with a bank of LEDs and a deep reflector and into spotlights with a single ten watt diode. Total Grow’s LED products are currently available only in warm shades of white, for horticultural uses, but if the technology takes off in this industry it’s just a small step over into the world of aquariums and reef tanks. [Total Grow]
