Regardless of formal performance specifications and rebate incentives, companies like Once Innovations are moving forward with energy-efficient LED-based agricultural lighting that improves animal wellbeing and enhances production at a reduced cost.
Once proprietary technology improves upon generic white LED technology by using a color-mixing approach that combines monochromatic colors to enhance reds and greens and produce a more uniform, tunable, dimmable light across the entire spectrum (Fig. 1 here). The conventional RGB arrays used in displays are driven by pulse-width modulated DC pulses; the turn-on time for each LED is controlled, varying the duty cycle of the DC pulses. AgriShift, by contrast, utilizes a proprietary stepped AC voltage to directly drive its LEDs. This approach eliminates the need for an AC/DC switch-mode driver and EMI filter, thereby reducing cost and space while increasing reliability. The low-EMI approach is also important from an animal welfare perspective, since all birds (fowl included) are extremely sensitive to EMI noise.