Straighten me out on this “lost on the wall” crap..do photons really get absorbed on tent walls, or do they reflect until absorbed by plants/other materials?
Yes, i understand that some of their efficiency may be lost by reflecting, but they still can provide significant photosynthesis potential, can’t they?
Got any quantitative info?
No, probably only a small amount gets absorbed but it will be converted.
Usually those silver looking tent materials have <80% reflection even if they call it mylar. The better ones have white walls which means up to 90% reflection if you keep it clean. This means at least 10-20% gets lost and is converted into heat. For this reason light feels warm and some rays gets reflected two times before they hit a leaf.
With COB's and 16-20" distance you have usually to calculate with 20% wall loss.
I would probably use even less distance without the T5 bulbs but I need at least 10-12" for even UVB coverage.
And about HLG..
Yeah, maybe not all is perfect and some things could be better.
But these company started from 0 and exsist since only a few years now and for their 2nd generation QB's they already got Samsung itself on board. I see a golden future for them... they steadily grow at a time when many US companies are not doing well.
They could give away a few boards to one of their favored customers and ask him to create a few PAR maps so that even the last one is happy. Many do it this... Theoretically you can also simulate them then the whole thing goes even faster. The most important data like efficiency and such are available for the most products... Is this perfect already? Nope, its not but the products are and thats much more important to be successful.
I'm a strip & DIY fetishist and not so long ago I had to calculate all the efficiency numbers myself. In contrast, you get today much more information. Give them some more time they have more important things to consider than PAR maps..