@Explorer no everything was packaged extremely well bubble packaging in there, and then paper wrap , no movement inside the box when I lifted it. The driver is what you see secondary wrapped in paper. Overall I would say it was packaged for shipping better than my hlg was.
Important to note @Chainmaker got the SolSheet X kit, not the fully assembled plug-and-grow light.
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I can confirm the packaging, though not attractive, was highly effective for the two Solsheets and driver I received.
Man these things are BRIGHT. I’m going to need shades when working in the tent during lights on.
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@Baudelaire - have you done any side by side experimenting with near/far red lighting and the Emmerson effect? Im curious to know if this is a real thing thats worth investing in more strips or just an interesting scientific detail that doesnt really effect yeilds all that much.
I notice you have far red + blue strips, but no near red? Your thoughts?
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A little peek at our newest SolStrip, the X3-400-5700/3000R:
Dual-band, dual channel (5700K and 3000K) Samsung 301B LEDs, with
with four Osram 660nm deep red and two 730 far red diodes in the 3000K channel.
I’ve seen the Emerson effect at work in my grow rooms that use the SolStrip deep red/deep blue strips. The addition of the far red in the new X3s will only enhance the effects further - mainly accelerated flowering response, and a quicker, more certain finish, with no noticeable loss of weight, and enhanced flower structure and size, as well as better terpene and cannabinoid production.
From experience and my survey of the research, I’m not convinced that far red “flower initiators” alone do much on their own. But far red with deep red in the regular bloom cycle spectrum mimics the mid-late season solar spectrum. That’s our guiding philosophy at Photon Solutions, recreating the solar spectrum.
Coming to Solstrip.com soon.
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Very interesting. So, it sounds like the biggest difference is much more on the quality side rather than a significant increase in the quantity? The faster finishing would be a nice plus as well.
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Those are sweet, when will they be available?
Just to query this explanation to clarify my own understanding if I may… I come in peace, relax 
I had understood that the efficiency of using diffuse light sources over point sources has little to do with ‘penetration’ i.e radiant Intensity and more to do with the simple fact that the photons being more scattered mean a more efficient distribution of the energy to the leaves also distributed chloroplasts? i.e as you kind of say “flood the light field from multiple angles, minimizing shadowing”. It makes sense that if you flood some chloroplasts with more light than they can utilise while others only receive a portion of this then photosynthesis will be less efficient than it might otherwise be… however all things being equal, unless I am missing something, by definition it’s not the case that a diffuse light source can have more radiant intensity than a point light source of the same output can it?
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My comments on penetration were referring to the basic optical difference between having a single point of light shining on a canopy vs multiple points of light. Light travels in straight lines. Top-most leaves will block most light from reaching lower leaves directly in the path of the (straight line) photon streams coming off a single point lamp directly above the canopy.
But some light streaming off the sides of the lamp will reach the lower leaves of plants off to the sides of the lamp due to the angle of the stream. If you multiply the effect with multiple light source points, you increase the incidence of photons directly hitting lower leaves, and thus, penetration.
It is the same effect for multiple HID lamps in large warehouse grows, just at a larger scale. Which is why warehouse grows tend to just mount their HPS lamps at a fixed height near the ceiling, equally spaced apart, to maximize their “spread” across the canopy and hit the plants from all angles.
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We are testing and evaluating them now. We hope to offer them on a rack light in a few weeks.
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I haven’t seen a notable difference in production weight. But a lot of the variance in finishing is reduced. If you’ve ever taken a week or two to harvest a plant because the tops finished ahead of the bottoms, or the apicals ambered-up way before the basal flowers, you know what a pain it is. The additional deep and far red seems to really tighten that up. Sativa-dom varieties flip into flower much faster, and finish more uniformly in particular.
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Hey all,
Sorry if this has been asked but I searched solstrip and the meanwell site. Working on wiring up my room and I’m bringing in 220v, just want to make sure if I buy a Sol sheet & run it on a hlg185w meanwell that I can have it plugged into a 220v outlet? Couldn’t find anything about this particular model but I did see some things about the bigger drivers that have a switch to allow for both 120 & 220. Same deal w the 185?
I run 240 volt and had no troubles, so you should be fine. 
Edit: Just mention to them when you order. I will also check my drivers when i am next in there. They are probably just an auto switching unit good for any voltage from 110 through to 240.
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Following on with what BudSy has mentioned, if it’s this one:
It does note:
Universal AC input / Full range
Which means that it can handle a range of AC inputs. Either 90 ~ 264VAC or 127 ~ 370VDC depending on the HLG-185 suffix. The suffix will also be needed to determine compatibility with the target LED array (voltage / current) since they have a number of models in this series.
The label will tell you for certain, if you’d like to post a photo.
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The one on the sol strip website is the meanwell 185h-24A. https://solstrip.com/en/drivers-accessories/18-195-dimmable-drivers.html#/55-driver-mean_well_hlg_185w_dimmable
This may have been asked already but what is the lumen output per solstrip ?
From photos on the web for the 24A
Input labeled as 100-240VAC 2.1A, 277VAC 0.8A
Output 24V 7.8A
Should not be a problem with that supply accepting your line voltage.
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Yes, all of our dimmable drivers will automatically adjust to accept the range of AC currents found across the world. Including 220v AC.
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Haven’t done a lux test in a while but when we did we rated the Luminous Flux at 7200 – 9000 lm for the X2 and 9000-14,500 lm for the X3, depending on current.
Lots more performance spec info in the component descriptions at SolStrip.com: X2 and X3.
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Thanks all! And thanks @Baudelaire for the pm response as well. I was in the middle of wiring yesterday and wanted to make sure I wasnt going to need to tear anything out. Sol sheet x is my next purchase after I finish electrical & drywall!
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