Chameleon Grow Systems Plasma Grow Lights

Chameleon Grow Systems Plasma Grow Lights

from Grozine Issue 11

(Interview Chameleon Grow Systems Plasma Lights)

Erik: Hi Chris, more & more of our readers are asking for information regarding Chameleon Grow systems Plasma Grow Lighting, could you tell us a bit about your company and your products?

Chris: Sure thing Erik. Chameleon Grow Systems was founded in 2007 when we built the design on the brightest LED Grow Light on the planet (at that time). It was really cool; it had seven different colors and could be controlled by your computer. We were working on Plant Performance Profiles but quickly realized that it still didn’t have enough light output and it was too expensive to produce.

Erik: That’s interesting, how did you get involved with Plasma?

Chris: I have been an Entertainment Producer for about 35 years and have extensive knowledge of lighting and light sources. My very good friend is a Horticulture Scientist and I was blown away to see HPS parking lot lights in his research greenhouse. It’s hot here in Florida and his greenhouse temperature was out of control. I suggested to him that I thought I could come up with better alternatives so I did some research with other entertainment professionals and was turned onto plasma lighting. This was a no-brainer, plasma has a significantly fuller light spectrum than HPS so I contacted the manufacturer of the light source and we quickly came to a business arrangement, that was a little over four years ago.

Erik: Can you tell us a bit more about why spectrum is so important.

Chris: While the saying “you can’t beat mother nature” is true you certainly can emulate mother nature, meaning that the closer you can get to the spectrum of light that the sun provides plants (PAR) the more healthy your artificial eco-system will be. As a point of reference, the sun has a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of 100, Chameleon Plasma Light Systems have a CRI of 95, we would have all been very pleased to get 95 on our test scores in college.

Erik: That’s interesting, we have heard a lot about Plasma generating less heat, what’s the deal here?

Chris: Plasma does produce light more efficiently but an electrical watt (from one instrument to another) generates relatively similar electrical heat loads. The significant difference is the radiant heat from the lamp itself. This is where additional heat is generated in the case of HPS or MH whereas Plasma has very little radiant heat which equates to less plant transpiration and less artificial cooling required. In addition, in order to efficiently use HPS/ MH growers have been venting their hoods to reduce this additional heat load. All this attention to heat loading in HPS is costly for the fans and the extra cooling required dealing with all this; plasma does not have this problem so there is a reasonable electrical savings and cooling cost between the two technologies.

Erik: Have you seen significant yield differences between the two technologies?

Chris: We have seen similar yields if you compare “watt for watt”, what’s of great importance is the end product. It smells better, looks better and has been proven to produce higher percentages of plant compounds and sugars. Tomatoes and strawberries grown under plasma lighting have a definitive sweetness; the same crops grown under HPS are very bitter in comparison.

Erik: We have heard a lot about a 500w Plasma in the works, what can you tell us about that?

Chris: We have been working diligently with the lamp manufacturer and are pleased to announce that our new 500w Plasma Light System will begin shipping on July 1, 2014. We are doing a special promotion for the first 100 customers so if you have interest you should go to ChameleonGrowSystems.com and email us immediately. We will announce the promotion via our Newsletter, they will go very quickly.

Erik: In parting is there anything else you would like our readers to know?

Chris: You bet, I believe we are the only grow lighting company to offer a 90 day Satisfaction Guarantee, if you are not pleased with the performance send it back, it takes a lot of faith in your product to offer something so revolutionary in this industry but we have the ultimate confidence that you will be pleased, we guarantee it!

Attributes & Expectations

Chameleon® Plasma Lighting’s most important attribute is the Full-Spectrum Nutritional Light-Energy, generating much less radiated heat than its HID counterparts making it ideal for sensitive plants like seedlings, plugs, transplants, orchids, lettuce, ornamentals and many other crops.

Chameleon® Plasma Lighting is available in 300 & 500 watt units, making this technology flexible for commercial & residential applications. It is important to note that Plasma Light Technology is not a wholesale replacement for traditional HID lighting but an alternative should the application be complimentary to the technology.

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