Energy-Efficient Plant Irradiation Technology Based on Digital Engineering Solutions

The paper highlights that in protected cultivation of agricultural crops, electricity costs account for approximately 20 percent of the total crop production cost. Numerous studies have focused on identifying the optimal light spectrum for specific crops. At the same time, considering the light and dark phases of photosynthesis, it is possible to propose an energy-efficient pulsed irradiation mode that maintains plant productivity without reducing the service life of LED irradiation systems. ( Research purpose ) To develop digital engineering solutions for implementing an energy-saving plant irradiation technology based on RGB LED lighting systems. ( Materials and methods ) An automated digital control system for RGB LED irradiators was developed. The durations of the light pulse and the dark interval were set in real time via Bluetooth wireless communication using an HC-05 Bluetooth module connected to a microcontroller and controlled through the Bluetooth Electronics mobile application. The control algorithm was implemented in C++. ( Results and discussion ) The experimental results demonstrated that the most rapid plant development occurred under a light pulse duration of 1 second with a 0.5-second interval. The effect was confirmed by comparing leaf area growth relative to the control (100 percent) at the beginning and end of the experiment, with values reaching approximately 108 percent. According to calculations, electricity consumption during 16-hour operation of the RGB LED irradiators in energy-saving mode amounted to about 78 percent of the control value (set at 100 percent). ( Conclusions ) The developed digital engineering solutions for RGB LED-based plant irradiation systems enable energy savings while maintaining plant productivity, demonstrating their eff ectiveness for energy-efficient protected cultivation.