I’ll live. So will others since you checked me 
not really a funny situation but I was corrected before anything bad happened. Cheers @anon32470837
4 Likes
so, I’ve done a purchase of 8 X3 strips for my 1square meter tent. I’m thinking about make 2 sets of 4 strips using a HLG-240H-36B for each set.
Am I doing it okay or have another option for better eficiency?
3 Likes
That will make a dam good rig imo. I recently built an X3 rig for a friend and it’s using that same arrangement of 4 strips to each HLG-240H. According to it’s new owner it makes his old 600w hps seem like a candle.
4 Likes
I just ordered three 2700K 2x SolStix plus a Mean Well CLG 100w driver for my 57 cm * 37 cm (1.87’*1.21’ = 2.27 sq ft) grow space. They will replace my six 3000K 13 watt led bulbs (78 watts), they have served me well, but it’s time to upgrade. I will continue to use the 6500K led bulbs for veg, I just love how squat the plant grows under them and how tight the internodes are.
That means I will run the strips at a very efficient 33 watts each, so 68% I believe; and 44 watts per sq ft.
Watts wise, it’s a 28% increase. But lumen wise it will jump from 8400 lumens to something close to 21000 I believe?
3 Likes
Don’t have lumen measurements for the X2 2700Ks at 33 watts, but they are around 12000 lux at full power, so 21000 sounds in the ballpark. We tend to focus on PAR in horticultural LED, and the 3-strip SolSheet O delivers 620 umols/m2/sec at 12 inches and 150 watts.
SolSheet O doing its thing
7 Likes
I did a scale project 1:10 for my strips
Ill smoke some buds to controll my anxiety till strips arrive here hehehehehe
5 Likes
My SolStrips just arrived today. Just took a week, many thanks @Baudelaire, should prove quite the upgrade compared to led bulbs. I’ll post pictures after putting it together, probably during the weekend.
5 Likes
Here it is, 3 Solstrips² 2700K. Many thanks @Baudelaire. Haven’t tested the lights yet, will do so later.
Here are the6500K LED 10.5 watt bulbs
Here’s the same (almost) photo with the solstrips on
Here’s how it all looks under the SolStrips. When in flower I will take the bulbs out and leave the sockets only.
7 Likes
@Mr.Sparkle, @ReikoX, @Baudelaire
A questions for you guys. So far I don’t plan to connect a dimmer to the driver (CLG 100 watts), as far as I understand that means that the driver will operate always at 100 watts, right?
Also, any idea what kind of lumen per watts will the 3 SolStrips² operate at 33 watts each?
1 Like
Nice looking rig.
The CLG-100s will run somewhere between 96-107 watts wide open, with no dimmer attached. Just keep the dimmer wire leads insulated so they don’t short.
Lumens/watt varies according to several variables, but at a typical 40C operating temperature Samsung’s calculator says 33 watts per SolStrip should deliver 202 lm/w in the 2700K CCT, which is fantastic given the 2700Ks are the least efficient of the three CCTs we offer.
For comparison, those LED replacement bulbs you are using are running at about 60-80 lm/watt, about the same as fluorescent bulbs. As I try to help folks understand with varying degrees of success, premium LEDs such as the Samsung diodes in SolStrips are 300-400% more efficient than “cheap” generic commercial LEDs, which makes the generics much more expensive when used as horticultural lighting operating 12 to 18 hours/day over 365 days a year.
For example, a 250 watt LED light operated at 12 hours per day for a year in the UK will cost the owner 220 GBP at average household energy rates. A light made of cheap commercial LEDs will create 15,000 lumens with those watts, enough light for about a half square meter of canopy. The same wattage applied to SolStrips will deliver 45,000-55,000 lumens, enough to light 1.5 to 2 sq. meters of canopy.
Looking at it from another way, you’ll need to use 500 watts of generic LED to equal the light produced by 150 watts of SolStrips. That’s an annual operating cost difference of over 300 GBP, for a light that could easily last five to seven years. Cheap LEDs aren’t cheap at all…
-b420
8 Likes
Thanks for the through reply @Baudelaire. Bloom wise, I’m upgrading from 78 watts@8400 lumen worth of LED bulbs to 100 watts@21000 lumen.
So 28% more power, but 2.5 times the light.
3 Likes
Free shipping on SolStrips
That’s right - we are offering free shipping on all SolStrips ordered through December 31st. Just order a minimum of $50 of SolStrips to the U.S. and Canada, or $100 minimum to Europe, the U.K., Australia and Latin America.
7 Likes
Just in time for my holiday lighting needs!
4 Likes
I think once the pennies allow it I’m going to buy one of your kits @Baudelaire. Looks perfect to get rid of my homemade cob light. The price is very tempting tbh.
The diy kit is the one for me I think.
Deffo a future purchase.
Love all the hard work and additions with each gen.
Making it hard to keep my hps with watching all you guys crush it with solstrips.
1 Like
I keep hearing about people ditching their hps for solstrips, but have not seen a true test of equivalent runs - @Baudelaire, do you know who some of the guys are running a 600 or 1k equivalent of solstrips? Any grow logs you can point me towards?
I prefer to scrog, so if penetration of led is an issue it will be less so with me. Would like to have some real user data though. Big investment.
3 Likes
See I was thinking get the diy kit to try for my veg.
If it’s great make a 600w equivalent solstrips rig and try one room vs my 600w hps.
I have 2 identical rooms but…it I loose out on medicine then that’s not good.
All the same cuttings.
Only true fair test in my opinion @Baudelaire
But that’s time and quite an investment. When money is tight atm.
1 Like
I see a whole lot of guys crushing it in micro with solstrips. In fact they look like pretty much the perfect light for the application. In terms of growing bigger plants that have some thick canopy on them, I have not seen an equivalent comparison yet.
If you do it, I’ll happily capitalize on that experience 
I run air cooled hoods, and could potentially build the heat sinks into those. Replace the glass with a sheet of aluminum and weld/mount some heat sinks onto the back; then run a fan on low. But I really need to be damn sure of:
A) how many would it take to replace a 600-watter, and a 1000-watter in terms of getting the most out of the plants
B) there is a 5-year or better payback on that investment
HIDs cost a lot in hydro, but they work damn well…
2 Likes
These are all the questions I have to lower the cost of my grow but keep the way I growth same. I.e no scrog.
But I know very little on the subject @anon58740919 would probably have much more valuable in put than me to put in.
1 Like
A 36" SolStix Rack with 7 X2s or 5 X3 strips with a 320w driver is roughly equivalent to a 600 hps over a 2x4 ft footprint. Except that you get twice the effective useful light output with 40% less electricity and 60% less waste heat.
Most HPS growers that fire up a SolStrip rig just put their old gear in a box and never look back. Its not much of a contest - kind of like going from kerosene lamps to electric bulbs. But there’s quite a few grow logs here on OG using SolStrip systems, you can judge for yourself:
7 Likes
@Baudelaire
Thank you for the reply.I feel honoured
You are a true hero of mine some of your fine creations has eased mine and many fiends pain for many years and i owe you such a debt of gratitude.
As soon as possible I will be ordering some and making a rig for my veg room. Alsonsome FDM seeds. Thoughtbyou sisappeared after i left uk420.
My area is 1.2m x 1m for veg how many strips would I need for that? Sorry for my ignorance but I know nothing about led. But more flower for less power sounds amazing.
Kinda sick of the hps heat and the fan noise involved. I can see the7bwork its just harsh to change a old habit and sonethingnyou kniwbhas worked for so long. But I must embrace progress.
Thank you for ESB, C99 (FDM) and GD some of the finest cannabis I have ever had theboleasure of growing
3 Likes