This is what I'm thinking. 315 in the middle, 12-14 LEDs around the periphery. With 14, the difficulty will be in sizing a driver adequately so it's still maxing out efficiency. Any suggestions on that?
14 CXB3070 BB bin @ 700ma would add how many useable watts/par watts?
14 CXB3590 CD bin @ 700ma would add how many useable watts/par watts?
i was thinking it'd be somewhere in the vicinity of 300-400 additional watts. LEC would be good for a 3x3 area raised 18-20" above the canopy. You could raise it higher but I think the main benefit LEC has over LED would be penetration (at least judging from the thickness of the buds produced). That would start to be wasted the higher you raised it. It would probably be better to let the 315 cover the inner 3x3 and use the LEDs to fatten the outer plants/branches.
If anyone would like to add some calcs to this, I'd be interested in seeing them. This is the design I'm going to run with first (although I'm still unsettled on number of COBs needed for the perimeter). I may change down the line but this will strike a nice balance between efficiency, penetration and it'll be fun to see how it produces.