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Plasma Lights Hit SA Shores

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George

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Myself and Leigh from Reef Inmates are jointly developing Plasma LiFi lighting units based on the Luxim STA 41-02 emitter, for reef aquariums. The first two light sources landed today and they should be ready for testing on my tank in about two weeks.

Here are some PAR ratings from the units being used at Monterrey Bay Aquarium in USA.

“We are using plasma lighting over many exhibits now here at the Aquarium. The tanks range in all sizes and depths, and they are all custom built so I cannot give you a LxWxH. What will probably be most helpful are some PAR numbers that we got from a side by side comparison with a 400W metal halide (Blueline E ballast and 6500K bulb). At 1.5" depth, the plasma puts out 660 µmol/(m*sec^2), the Blueline only put out 271 µmol/(m*sec^2) at the same exact depth. At 24" deep, the plasma put out 179 µmol/(m*sec^2) and the Blueline only 81 µmol/(m*sec^2). With the plasma dimmed to 25% it still beat the Blueline MH with 127 µmol/(m*sec^2) at 24" depth. Overall the plasma lights perform more like a 600W metal halide, suitable for almost any home aquarium. They only use ~280 watts, are dimmable and they have a useable life of ~8-10 years depending on how much output you want. The spectrum produced by the bulb is the closest to sunlight than any other known light source on the market, a true 96 CRI. You can buy fixtures from Straylight Optical and Sfiligoi.”

Some pics of Plasmas running on various aquariums in USA and Europe.

SpectralDistribution.jpg


LiFi.jpg


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We will post more as soon as they are ready.
 
been waiting for this one. Towards the end of this year, watch this space.
 
Any idea on pricing yet?
 
sweetnsour said:
Very nice indeed, what effect does the plasma have on heating the tank? Same as MH?
And what will the light spread be like?
Click to expand...

The Plasma light emitter runs at around 150 deg C and at the bulb up to 800 deg c,
similar to MH lamps. The spread is dependent on the reflector design. We aim to design the units so that only two are needed for a two M tank.
 
The units are controlabel/dimmable therefore kelvin ratings range from 20000K at 20% power up to around 6000K at 100% power.

"With the plasma dimmed to 25% it still beat the Blueline MH with 127 µmol/(m*sec^2) at 24" depth"

The above figures are from the units running on Monterrey Bay Aquarium.

Product specs from the Manufacturer.
Part Description - LiFi light source
Product code -LiFi-STA-41-02
Rated Average Life - 30,000 hours (10 years at 8 hrs per day)
Total Initial Lumens - 17,000 lumens
Typical Turn-on time - 45 seconds
CCT - 5600 K
CRI -94
Dimming Range1 - 20-100%
Nominal DC Power @ 28v - 255 watts
Nominal AC Power @ 277v - 273 watts
DC Input Voltage - 28
Input Current (A) - 9.8


The units we are designing will be single pendants supplemented with 4 blue T5's.

We will only have an idea of pricing once the development units are complete.
 
looks good, the only issue for me is the ambient amount of escaping light, you would need welding glasses to see your tank, unless the photo is misleading
 
why would you want to use this lighting if it still heats up as much as mh?
 
The aquarium hobby is always searching for the ultimate light source that can replicate natural sunlight that our fish and corals are exposed to in nature. MH has been the lamp of choice but the hobby is always trying to advance and find new, better and more energy efficient light sources. LED's are getting a lot of hype and development at the moment but studies conducted in the USA are showing that they are just not up to supplying the correct light required by corals.

LEDs also direclty produce tremendous amounts of HEAT compared to light. The heat is radiated away from the back by the heat sink. 100W worth of LED in a room create exactly the same amount of heat as 100W worth of MH or a 100W heater.

Plasma lights only use 280 watts, are dimmable and they have a useable life of 8 -10 years depending on how much output you want. The spectrum produced by the bulb is the closest to sunlight than any other known light source on the market, a true 96 CR

The Plasma light uses only 230 watts but offer the light similar to what you would get from a 600 watt MH.

This is new technology and we feel this is the light source of the future for reef aquariums.


Only two needed on a 2 meter aquarium.
 
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well answered!
people forget that 1w of heat is the same no mater the source, its all about the design of the heatsink, airflow etc

i look forward to seeing the units
 
LEDs also direclty produce tremendous amounts of HEAT compared to light. The heat is radiated away from the back by the heat sink. 100W worth of LED in a room create exactly the same amount of heat as 100W worth of MH or a 100W heater.
Click to expand...

I stand to be correct, but would have to disagree here. 100w of total disapated power is the same no matter what device you are using, but the radiated heat is not nessecaraly the same.

simple example:

A heater uses 100w, there is no other product produced other than heat, therefore all 100watts is radiated as heat.

A light buld uses 100w, there are now two products produced, heat and light. therefore the 100w of energy is split between the two, if I remember correctly a incadecant buld only emmit about 5% of its energy as light (stand to be corrected), therefore 95w of heat is produced and 5w of light is produce.

Its this ratio between heat and light that contrabutes to a lights efficiency.

look at Enegy savers, only +-21w but produce about the same as a 100w incandecent bulb, therefore about 15watts of energy is produced into heat. The ratio is 75% vs to top example of about 95%.

Figures may be off slighty, but I hope that give you the idea.
 
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The video mentioned a figure of 6000K. Don't we use a higher Kelvin rating than that?
 
lIghty said:
A light buld uses 100w, there are now two products produced, heat and light. therefore the 100w of energy is split between the two, if I remember correctly a incadecant buld only emmit about 5% of its energy as light (stand to be corrected), therefore 95w of heat is produced and 5w of light is produce.
Click to expand...

Spot on Lighty. Hehehe, if you created an LED light that uses a 100W of electricity and gives off light and 100W heat...Then patent it immediately!!! You sitting on a gold mine ;-)
 
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