The DLC is pleased to release the following update to the Technical Requirements for Horticultural Lighting as Version 2.1. This update adds additional eligible product types to the Technical Requirements, with a proposed effective date of September 1, 2021.

Technical Requirements for LED-based Horticultural Lighting V2.1

In response to DLC Member and stakeholder input, V2.1 establishes eligibility for three new horticultural lighting product types. To support the qualification of fixtures that enable greater whole facility energy savings by removing excess heat from the grow environment, among other strategies, V2.1 establishes requirements specific to externally supplied actively cooled and DC-powered fixtures. Additionally, V2.1 adds eligibility and establishes performance criteria for LED replacements for linear fluorescent and HID lamps.

While no new requirements are added under V2.1 for existing Hort qualified products, requirements specific to the newly eligible product types are included in V2.1 under the “Special Considerations” section of the policy document (beginning on page 13).

The final technical requirements contain changes made in response to stakeholder comments on Draft 2. Key changes from Draft 2 are noted below:

1. Externally Supplied Actively Cooled Horticultural Fixtures
   The DLC defines externally supplied circulating liquid cooled horticultural fixtures to be products in which liquid, often water or a water/glycol solution, flows through input and output ports of each fixture in the system, being channeled through a cooling plate or other heat exchanger within the fixture. V2.1 describes how to test and report on these types of products to ensure comparable performance across externally supplied actively cooled fixtures and typical V2.0 listed products.
   
   Key changes from Draft 2: Revision to reporting of data and corresponding image showing fixture-level input power and PPF as a function of inlet fluid temperature.
    
2. DC-Powered Fixtures
   Horticultural lighting fixtures powered by direct current (DC) eligible under V2.1 include modular fixtures, where one AC-to-DC power source supplies power to multiple fixtures, and fixtures that operate on DC power, where one or more AC-to-DC power source may or may not be sold with the fixture. V2.1 describes how to test and report on these DC-powered fixtures in place of the typical equivalent AC testing and reporting.
   
   Key changes from Draft 2: Revisions to testing and reporting of range of loading points required for the test power source report.
    
3. LED Replacement Lamps
   V2.1 adds eligibility for two types of horticultural lamps: LED replacements for linear fluorescent lamps and LED replacements for mogul-base high intensity discharge (HID) lamps. LED replacement lamps for horticultural applications must meet Horticultural V2 Technical Requirements, except for driver lifetime and warranty, and includes horticulture lamp specific requirements.
   
   Key changes from Draft 2: The warranty requirement for replacement lamps is updated to three years instead of five years, as proposed in Draft 2.

Informational Webinar

The DLC hosted an informational webinar on Wednesday, July 7, 2021 from 1:00 – 2:00 pm EDT to review the V2.1 Horticultural Technical Requirements and explain in more detail how they will be implemented.