Grow-Light Specification Database: Six Official-Source Records Without Filled-In Gaps

Quick answer

A useful grow-light specification database should make it easy to see not only the numbers, but also where each number came from, which exact model it belongs to, when the source was checked and what the source did not report. This pilot release normalizes six official product records while leaving missing fields blank rather than filling them from retailers, formulas or another model generation.

The database can help you compare reported input power, photosynthetic photon flux (PPF), photon efficacy (PPE), dimensions, coverage wording and controls. It cannot tell you which light performs best in your room. Coverage labels are not equivalent, point or plane photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) claims are not integrated PPF, and an arithmetic consistency check is not a laboratory test.

How to interpret this database

Takeaway: Use this pilot to inspect documentary fields and missing-data limits; it does not identify a product winner.

Key facts

Takeaway: A complete-looking row is less trustworthy than an honestly incomplete row whose provenance and limitations are visible.

Database scope

This release is a bounded pilot, not a market census. The six records were selected to exercise different data conditions: three pages report power, PPF and PPE together; two report power and efficacy but not integrated PPF; one provides only a minimal set of structured fields in the captured text. That variation is useful for testing whether the database preserves missing evidence instead of smoothing it away.

The pilot includes AC Infinity IONBOARD S24, HLG 100 Rspec, Spider Farmer SF1000, Mars Hydro TS 1000, VIVOSUN AeroLight A100 and ViparSpectra XS1500 Pro. Inclusion is not a recommendation, ranking, endorsement or statement about availability. It means only that an identified manufacturer page or manual supports a bounded documentary record; source context and limitations stay attached to that record.

Standards and program pages establish the terminology and diligence context. ANSI/ASABE S640 covers definitions and descriptions of radiation metrics used for plant growth, while S642.1 covers measurement and testing methods. The DesignLights Consortium maintains a horticultural lighting program and an active HORT V4.0 requirement set. Those references help define what a careful record should say, but they do not turn every manufacturer field into an independently verified measurement.

Field definitions

Numeric normalization is deliberately narrow. Power is stored in watts, PPF in micromoles per second and PPE in micromoles per joule. Each value keeps its source ID and checked date. The database does not convert watts into photon output, lumens into plant-light metrics or one PPFD value into integrated PPF.

Takeaway: A field is comparable only when its quantity, unit, definition, model and condition are sufficiently aligned.

Six pilot records

The table below is a reading view of the canonical JSON release. It intentionally exposes “Not reported” cells. Those cells prevent a missing official value from being replaced with a calculated or secondary-source value that would look equally authoritative.

Takeaway: The rows with more fields are not automatically better products; they are only more complete records under this schema.

Why coverage stays as text

Coverage labels can hide material differences. One page may use “core” and “maximum,” another may separate vegetative and flowering footprints, and another may give only one nominal area. The release preserves those phrases instead of converting every label into square feet and presenting the result as equivalent. A buyer who needs uniform canopy light still needs a suitably documented map or direct measurement for the intended height and area.

Why PPFD stays separate from PPF

PPFD describes photon flux density at a location or over a measurement plane. PPF is an integrated photon-flux quantity. A single center value at a stated distance cannot be substituted for an integrated PPF value. For that reason, the AC Infinity and VIVOSUN PPFD claims remain condition-qualified text, while their PPF fields remain null in this release.

Missing-data policy

The database uses one rule for every model: missing evidence remains missing. JSON uses null; the CSV export uses a blank cell. Zero is reserved for a real reported zero and is not accepted by the numeric schema for power, PPF or PPE.

Takeaway: Keep missing or differently defined fields visible; do not substitute another measurement or model.

Arithmetic consistency check

When an official page reports power, PPF and PPE together, the reference validator calculates expected PPF = power × PPE. It then compares the constructed value with reported PPF. A relative difference of 12% or less receives a “within review tolerance” flag; a larger difference requires editorial review. The 12% threshold is a project triage rule, not an industry tolerance and not evidence that either number is accurate.

Takeaway: Three records are mechanically checkable and fall inside the project review threshold; three are not computable because the official source does not provide every required field. Neither result is a product verdict.

Validation cases

The release includes six valid fixtures based on the six canonical records and eight invalid fixtures. Invalid cases cover a malformed record ID, blank brand, malformed source ID, non-HTTPS URL, non-ISO date, negative power, zero efficacy and an unauthorized top-level price field. A dataset-level test also rejects duplicate record IDs.

These tests validate the software behavior against frozen fixtures. They do not reproduce a manufacturer’s laboratory measurement. Reaching a reproducible product-performance claim would require a versioned source capture or raw report, applicable test method, equipment, conditions, uncertainty and independent reproduction that are outside this release.

How to use the output

Start with the exact model and market source. Then check whether the field you need is present, whether its definition matches the competing record and whether a condition changes its meaning. A missing field should become a diligence question, not a reason to assume a product is worse. A reported field should remain attributed to the manufacturer unless an independent measurement exists.

For a purchase decision, this database is one input. You would still need a crop and area requirement, a representative light-distribution method, the current manual, voltage and control compatibility, operating-cost assumptions and any applicable safety review. Those decisions belong to the relevant guides and future measured work, not to this normalized specification release.

What we could not verify

• Independent accuracy of any manufacturer-reported power, PPF, PPE, PPFD, coverage, dimension or control field.
• A complete current United States grow-light market or a representative statistical sample.
• Full raw test reports, uncertainty budgets or model-generation histories for every record.
• Whether every product is currently listed on a qualified-products program.
• Current price, stock, shipping, warranty application or replacement-part availability.
• Real canopy uniformity, output at a buyer’s height, power draw, thermal behavior, noise, reliability, crop response or safety.
• Structured PPF/PPE/dimension fields for ViparSpectra XS1500 Pro in the captured official page text.

Methodology

Data and method files: Download the six-record data, schema and reference validator (ZIP, release 1.1.0).

We reviewed current standards/program scope pages, NIST unit-formatting guidance and six exact official product pages on July 27, 2026. Each record stores exact brand, model, market context, source URL, checked date, reported fields, state and limitations. Numeric fields accept only positive values explicitly shown by the source. Missing values remain null. PPFD, coverage, spectrum, voltage and control fields remain qualified text where definitions or conditions differ.

The canonical JSON release is validated against a versioned schema and frozen valid/invalid fixtures. A Python reference implementation checks identifiers, required fields, HTTPS URLs, ISO dates, positive numeric values, duplicate IDs and the limited power–PPF–PPE arithmetic relation. The method and fixtures passed locally. No product was purchased, installed, operated, measured or grown under by Root & Photon. Manufacturer fields therefore remain official-source claims, and the page-level evidence does not reach E4 reproducibility.

The original research baseline is July 27, 2026. A source-access update captured on October 18 and reviewed on October 19, 2026 uses the HLG 100 Rspec manufacturer manual (edition August 28, 2023; historical documentation), Spider Farmer’s official UK SF1000 specification table (regional documentary context, without US plug or package equivalence), and Mars Hydro’s US TS1000+iControl bundle (SKU TS-1000+MH-Controller43). The bundle is not evidence of equivalence to the historical standalone SKU TS-1000-2510: its separately labeled vegetative coverage is 2.5 × 2.5 ft, and the old 2.3 × 2.3 ft label is not carried forward. Mars Hydro’s 2026 TS-series article supplies series-level Bluetooth/MarsPro context only; exact iConnectu compatibility and inclusion for the historical standalone SKU remain unverified. These are manufacturer documentary claims, not measured performance or current availability findings.

Sources

• ANSI/ASABE S640 — Quantities and Units of Electromagnetic Radiation for Plants
• ASABE standards keyword index — S640 and S642
• ANSI/ASABE S642.1 SEP2025 scope page
• DLC Horticultural Lighting Program and HORT V4.0
• Writing with SI units
• IONBOARD S24 official product page
• HLG 100 Rspec manufacturer manual — edition August 28, 2023 (historical documentation)
• Spider Farmer SF1000 — official UK specification table (regional documentary record)
• Mars Hydro TS 1000 + iControl — official US bundle specification and separate coverage labels
• VIVOSUN AeroLight A100 official product page
• ViparSpectra XS1500 Pro official product page
• NIST SP 330 Appendix 1 — unit-symbol conventions
• Mars Hydro 2026 New TS Series — manufacturer article; series-level Bluetooth context only