High efficiency liquid cooled horticulture lighting for vertical farming
Brilliant Photonics has developed a compact, modular, and serviceable liquid-cooled LED horticulture lighting system designed to reduce capital and operational costs in vertical farms. The technology delivers higher photon density for light-intensive crops such as tomatoes, strawberries, and peppers while improving thermal management, reliability, and upgradeability compared to conventional 5W LED arrays.
Overview
Vertical farming offers a promising path to recovering farmland, conserving water, and supplying high-quality produce, yet high capital and operational costs remain a barrier to widespread adoption. Lighting and heating represent some of the largest expenses in these facilities. Brilliant Photonics addresses these challenges with a high-efficiency, liquid-cooled horticulture lighting system engineered specifically for controlled-environment agriculture. By combining advanced LED technology with liquid cooling, the system delivers greater photon density in a compact form factor, enabling vertical farms to economically grow light-intensive crops such as tomatoes, strawberries, and peppers.
Technical specifications
- High photon density output designed to support demanding crops that conventional 5W LED arrays cannot adequately serve
- Liquid cooling integration replaces bulky distributed aluminum heat sinks, reducing equipment footprint and weight
- Modular and serviceable architecture allowing individual components to be replaced or upgraded without discarding the entire system
- Root zone heating capability through integration of thermal management, capturing and redirecting waste heat to benefit plant growth
- Improved reliability with reduced failure rates compared to legacy distributed-LED installations
- Energy efficiency improvements that lower both electricity consumption and overall operating cost
Technology readiness level
Brilliant Photonics has completed initial development of its liquid-cooled lighting platform and is now proposing a vertical racking system for strawberry cultivation to demonstrate integrated lighting and thermal management with root zone heating. The next stage of validation will measure agricultural yield, electrical energy consumption, thermal energy storage performance, crop density, and crop quality. This work aims to confirm commercial readiness and demonstrate economic viability for vertical farm operators seeking more efficient and dependable lighting infrastructure.
About Brilliant Photonics Inc.
Brilliant Photonics Inc. is a company that develops horticulture lighting solutions designed to enable efficient and sustainable food production. Their technology focuses on addressing technical challenges in high-intensity lighting for demanding environments. As part of their operational approach, the company has explored sustainable agriculture models, including the development of high-tech vertical farming within shipping containers that leverage waste heat from their lighting systems for environmental climate control during winter months.
These solutions are particularly relevant to partners and customers in the industrial and agricultural sectors seeking to optimize energy usage in controlled-environment agriculture. The company’s work has been supported by organizations like the Velocity incubator, which provides resources for startups to advance hardware and industrial maintenance technologies. Their projects have included community-focused initiatives to test and demonstrate the practical application of their lighting and climate management systems in real-world agricultural settings.
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