Plessey Semiconductors, a private UK company that produces gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si) LEDs, announced that it has signed an international and exclusive license agreement to produce and sell the LED-based horticultural lighting solutions from PhytoLux®. According to the terms of the agreement, PhytoLux will essentially become Plessey’s brand of horticultural lighting products.
Plessey has taken on the technical, operational, and commercial activities of PhytoLux. The companies expect the collaboration to combine British design engineering of Plessey with LED-based plant growth lighting solutions of PhytoLux. Steve Edwards, founder and MD of PhytoLux, will now serve as head of the LED lighting solutions division of Plessey.
The agreement brings Plessey into the potentially lucrative market for LED-based horticultural lighting solutions. With much few players, the horticultural lighting market is much less competitive than the markets of both packaged LEDs, and LED-based general lighting.
Edwards said, “Plessey, one of the UK’s most prestigious engineering brands, is at the forefront of the global LED Lighting
revolution. We are very excited to have reached this agreement with them and are looking forward to delivering our unique solution to the global horticultural market over the coming months and years.”
Michael LeGoff, Plessey CEO commented, “Steve and the team at PhytoLux have built an impressive record of innovation and proof of concept with the researchers and industrial growers in the UK. The horticultural market is a key growth area for solid-state lighting and is without a significant dominant player. We believe we have an opportunity to be that dominant player with the PhytoLux end product.”
LeGoff continued, “Our GaN-on-silicon, MAGIC™, technology for power LED applications is perfect for these kinds of directed lighting applications where we have very tight wavelength control. The next generation Plessey LEDs with integrated electronics and optics will further add to the intrinsic advantages of the PhytoLux range of products. We are very excited about the prospects of this deal in one of the fastest growing sectors for LED lighting.”
