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 High Pressure Sodium (HPS) Lamps
Provided by Advanced Nutrients
High-pressure sodium arc or discharge lamps resulted from further experimentation with metal vapor arc lamps. They resemble mercury vapor lamps, but the arc tube is made of aluminum oxide, instead of glass or quartz, and it contains sodium metal. The lamp produces what is seen by the naked eye as yellowish-white light, but is actually on the orange and red end of the spectrum. In horticulture, these lamps are used at the later stages of a plant's life, the budding and flowering stage.
High-pressure sodium lamps turn 50% of the electrical energy into visible light. Because their output is much more pleasant to look at, they have replaced mercury vapor in streetlight applications. Another version of the sodium arc-lamp, the low-pressure sodium discharge lamp, is the most efficient lamp known today in turning electricity into light-it transforms a full 80% of the electrical energy into light energy. But it requires a physically big bulb and its light is monochromatic yellow, which literally cannot render colors at all. This limits the number of applications of this highly efficient lamp.
High Pressure Sodium lamps are shaped differently than Metal Halide lamps. A ceramic arc tube contains sodium and mercury, with a little xenon gas for starting. The sodium discharge dominates the color, producing the orange-red light. Electricity passes through electrodes at the ends of the arc tubes. If the lamp is turned off or a power surge occurs, the gasses will need to cool three to 15 minutes before restarting is possible.
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