Rows of plants under LED lights in an indoor farm

Ultimate plant growth through indoor farming LEDs

Modern indoor farming demands precise light control and consistent quality—from near-UV all the way through the PAR spectrum. As a highly transparent enclosure for your LED modules, SCHOTT B 270® delivers exceptionally uniform, long-term stable light transmission—so every photon reaches the canopy unimpeded, letting your plants realize their full growth potential.

Key requirements for LED modules and cover glass in indoor farming

The heart of every indoor farm is its LED lighting system. These fixtures must deliver a precisely defined light spectrum from 350–1.000 nm to optimize photosynthesis, all the metabolic processes and temperatures that drive plant growth. At the same time, not a single photon can be wasted—any absorption or reflection directly impacts growth rate and energy consumption.

In practice, LED modules face dust, humidity, and frequent wash-down cycles. The LED cover glass is the front pane of your lighting module in vertical and container farms. It shields the LED chips from moisture, cleaning agents, and mechanical wear—without scattering or absorbing light. Only flawless cover glass lets 100 % of your source output through, ensuring perfectly even illumination across every canopy layer.

Rows of plants in an indoor farm underneath an LED lighting system

Maximize plant growth with indoor farming LEDs

Characteristics of the ideal LED Cover

An LED cover glass must meet five core requirements:

  • Optical purity
    Uniform transmission from 350–1.000 nm to support photosynthesis and secondary plant processes.
  • Protective function
    Resistance to moisture, vapor, and cleaning chemicals without any optical aging.
  • Mechanical robustness
    High scratch, impact, and flexural strength to withstand the rigors of rack- and container-based farms.
  • Coating compatibility
    Long-lasting adhesion of AR, easy-clean, or hydrophobic coatings—even after a thousand cleaning cycles.
  • Thermal management
    Efficient heat conduction and low thermal expansion so seals remain intact and LEDs are protected from hot-spots.

B 270® - the ideal glass solution for indoor farming LED covers

Optimized light spectrum and uniform distribution

Plants are especially sensitive to light in the blue and near-UV range (350–450 nm), yet standard float glass can absorb up to 10 % of the light in this critical band. That loss weakens photosynthesis, extends growth cycles, and drives energy costs up.
SCHOTT B 270®, by contrast, delivers a consistently high transmission of 90–92 % across the PAR range and absorbs up to 10 % less in the nUV band than float glass. Its true spectral homogeneity guarantees perfectly uniform illumination—no hot or cold spots.
The result: you directly boost Photosynthetic Photon Flux (PPF), shorten harvest cycles, and slash overall energy demand, all while automated sensors supply pinpoint-accurate data for dynamic light management.

Mechanical peak performance for demanding farm environments

With a Mohs hardness of 5.5–6.0 and a Young’s modulus of 70 GPa, SCHOTT B 270® delivers exceptional strength and stiffness—essential in vertical and container farms. During installation and cleaning of large module surfaces, its hard glass resists scratches that would otherwise compromise light transmission and uniformity. Even vibrations from fans or pumps won’t cause deflection, keeping the LED-to-canopy distance constant and ensuring reproducible growth conditions. In addition, B 270® can be thermally toughened, which further enhances both its thermal and mechanical resistance. This not only extends durability in demanding farming environments, but also improves safety: in the rare event of breakage, the glass shatters into small, blunt fragments instead of large, sharp-edged pieces, reducing the risk of injury.

Thermal stability

In continuous operation, indoor farms generate significant heat peaks that can compromise LED output and lifespan. SCHOTT B 270® disperses waste heat with a thermal conductivity of 1.1 W/(m·K)—on par with float glass and far superior to PMMA (0.2 W/(m·K)) or PC (0.19 W/(m·K))—effectively eliminating hot-spot formation.
Its high coefficient of thermal expansion (9.4 × 10⁻⁶ /K; measured by 20° C – 300° C) keeps the gap between glass and LED unchanged during temperature swings, protects seals from stress-induced failure, and extends module service life under stable lighting conditions—key to uniform plant growth and reliable harvest scheduling.

Long-term clarity and maintenance-free operation

In automated indoor farms, LED covers endure daily stress from UV light, high humidity, and aggressive hydrogen-peroxide cleanings designed to prevent algae and fungal growth. Standard float glass tends to show changes in transmission properties under such conditions, reducing light output over time. SCHOTT B 270®, however, remains fully transparent and free of micro-cracks even after more than 1 000 cleaning cycles and intense UV exposure When required, functional coatings such as anti-reflection or hydrophobic layers can be applied, which adhere durably to the glass surface. This ensures that water and debris bead off effortlessly and cleaning intervals can be extended. The result? Less maintenance, fewer downtime hours, and consistently high light transmission for uniform plant growth.

Reflection losses & AR coating options

At glass–air interfaces, LED modules can lose up to 8 % of photons—forcing longer run times or higher energy use in an indoor farm. An anti-reflective (AR) coating on B 270® cuts those losses to under  < 1%, delivering significantly more light to your plants and enabling faster, more uniform photosynthesis.
Because the AR layer endures over 1 000 hydrogen-peroxide cleans and intense UV exposure without degradation, maintenance intervals lengthen and downtime for cleaning or replacing cover panes drops. The result: lower power costs, more consistent harvests, and rock-solid continuous operation.

Premium promise with unaltered visual clarity

In showcase farms and research labs, the optical clarity of your LED cover is critical for reliable visual inspections and image analyses.
SCHOTT B 270® delivers “super-white” transparency for truly neutral color rendering—free of any green or yellow cast—so your plants always appear in their genuine hues. Even under shifting light conditions, color fidelity remains rock-solid, enabling precise observations and top-quality imaging.

B 270® technical highlights

Transmission curve
Comparision to other glass types
Color rendering & colorimetry
Coating and surface compatibility (material & process advantages)
Thickness portfolio

Transmission curve

At 2 mm thickness, SCHOTT B 270® delivers up to 92 % transmission in the plant-critical 350–1.000 nm spectrum. That makes it the ideal cover glass for LED modules in indoor farms—minimizing photon losses and ensuring that virtually the entire Photosynthetic Photon Flux (PPF) generated by your LEDs reaches the canopy unimpeded, for faster growth and higher yields.

Graph showing the transmission curve of SCHOTT B 270® glass

Comparision to other glass types


Factor Float soda-lime glass Polycarbonate (PC) SCHOTT B 270®
nUV transmission (350–450 nm) Up to 10 % absorption Up to 15 % absorption Up to 2 % absorption
PAR transmission (400–700 nm) 88–90 % 85–88 % 90–92 %
Optical homogeneity High Medium Very high
Mechanical robustness Medium High High
Thermal stability High Low High
AR coating adhesion Moderate (yellowing over time) Limited Excellent
Cleaning resistance Yellowing over time Good Excellent
Seal stability Expansion High expansion Minimal expansion
Available thicknesses 1–6 mm 1–8 mm 0.5–10 mm (extensive)
Cost-to-performance ratio ++ ++ ++++

Color rendering & colorimetry

Neutral lighting and consistent color fidelity are critical for indoor-farm LED cover glasses—whether for camera-based crop monitoring, phenotyping systems, or simple visual inspections by farm staff. The table below shows how SCHOTT B 270® compares to float glass and polycarbonate:

 

Metric SCHOTT B 270® Float Glass Polycarbonate (PC)
ΔE*ab (350–700 nm) < 1.0 1.5 – 2.0 > 3.0
White-point temperature 6 500 K 6 300 K 6 200 K
Color consistency across batches Very high Medium Low

Coating and surface compatibility (material & process advantages)


Property B 270® Advantage
Homogeneity Highly uniform glass composition – ensures reproducible coating tests
Surface (Roughness) Precision-polished to ≤ 1 nm – minimal polishing required before coatings
Coating temperature 542 °C transformation temperature – compatible with demanding AR and hydrophobic processes
Cleaning resistance ≥ 1 000 H₂O₂-cleaning cycles without performance loss

Thickness portfolio

B 270® is available from 2-10 mm of standard thicknesses for purchase-ready via global distributor network. Other thicknesses on request. Standard sizes up to 1680 x 900 mm.

FAQs

Yes. B 270® meets FDA and EU food-contact regulations, making it perfectly safe for use in direct proximity to edible plants.
With up to 92 % transmission in the PAR range and only 2 % absorption in the nUV spectrum, B 270® maximizes Photosynthetic Photon Flux (PPF). This results in shorter growth cycles or up to a 10 % reduction in energy usage.
B 270® is fully UV-resistant and has been tested through over 1 000 hydrogen-peroxide cleaning cycles, with optics and coatings remaining completely intact.
Coating houses can apply AR, easy-to-clean, and hydrophobic coatings that adhere well to B 270®. Adhesion tests confirm full functionality over thousands of cleaning cycles.
A thermal conductivity of 1.1 W/(m·K) combined with a low coefficient of thermal expansion (9.4 × 10⁻⁶ /K; measured by 20° C – 300° C) ensures efficient heat transfer and stable seals—preventing hotspots and leaks.

Used materials

Discover SCHOTT B 270® and check out how it can answer your challenges.
    B 270®
    B 270®
    SCHOTT B 270® offers outstanding optical performance in a wide range of thicknesses. Suitable for a broad range of applications, customers across a wide variety of industries have relied on this highly transparent, super-white soda-lime glass for decades thanks to its high quality at a competitive price.
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