Quote Originally Posted by clongo
I'm nearly led illiterate, but I would like to become educated enough to design and build my own panels. Could ya walk me through it khyber or point me where someone already explained how, I'm having a tough time understanding how to get the amount of micromoles I want in the most efficient way.
Well, I can walk you through a simple serial construction. Get the most efficient diodes at your chosen wavelengths, then in a line add together all of the voltages since you are doing a serial connection (usually blues range from 3.2v-3.6 and reds from 2.2-2.8v) and then find a driver pushing that voltage at about 300-500mA.

I leave it to you as to how you mount your diodes, and your heatsink configuration. Eventually you'll learn how to add in fail-safe diodes to keep power flowing to the rest of the chain should one light actually fail.

It's pretty simple once you understand the basics of electricity - go snag a couple Google books or read up on Khan Academy!
khyberkitsune Reviewed by khyberkitsune on . LED Ahoy! Okay, this becomes my new official grow journal. There's still the krusty/DWC update, but that stuff is going to be hash. pH swings like mad and heat issues from poorly-ventilated spaces caused that to be a complete cockup. The gear: 1 new prototype 50w quad-band+4500K white LED, combo 120/90 degrees. 1 Current-gen 50w tri-band solar-insolation spec LED, fully 120 degrees. 1 current-gen 120w tri-band solar-insolation spec LED, fully 120 degrees. The 120w gets my two largest mothers, Rating: 5