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Sprout & Spectrum

Soltech Aspect Gen 2

The only grow light here you would willingly hang in a living room, the only one with PPFD published at three distances, and the least efficient of the lot.

By Scooter M. — An enthusiast who's genuinely into this. I read the manuals, compile the published specs, and do the math. No lab coat.

Published · How we pick

A pendant grow light hanging over a large indoor plant in a living room

Photographs on this site are licensed stock and are illustrative of the fixture type. We do not own the units we write about.

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We have not tested these units. Everything below comes from the manufacturer’s own published specifications, or from arithmetic we have shown our working for. Where a figure is not published, we say so instead of estimating one. Read the method.

The reasoning

We have not tested this fixture. Soltech publishes more placement data than anyone else we cover, which makes the arithmetic on this page unusually solid — and the arithmetic is not entirely flattering.

The best disclosure on this site

Soltech publishes PPFD at three distances for the Aspect Gen 2: about 50 µmol/m²/s at 1 m, 34.9 at 4 ft, and 15.5 at 6 ft. Nobody else in our set publishes more than one, and several publish none.

The published figures obey the inverse-square rule

From 4 ft (1.22 m) to 6 ft (1.83 m), the distance ratio is 1.5, so intensity should fall by 1.5² = 2.25×.

34.9 ÷ 2.25 = 15.5. Soltech publishes 15.5.

The two figures are consistent with each other to the precision given, which means you can extrapolate to a height they did not publish and trust the result.

What those numbers actually say

They say this is a modest light. 34.9 µmol/m²/s at 4 ft is below University of Minnesota Extension’s low band floor of 50. At 1 m (about 3.3 ft) the published 50 sits exactly at that floor.

So the Aspect Gen 2 is a fixture for a low-light plant, hung reasonably close. Hung at ceiling height over a large specimen it is contributing real but small light. That is a genuinely useful thing to know before buying, and you only know it because Soltech published the figures — which is a point in their favor, not against.

Distance at which the Aspect delivers Minnesota Extension's low-light floor
~3.3 ft

Its published 50 µmol/m²/s at 1 m is exactly the 50 µmol/m²/s bottom of the low band. Closer than that and it moves up the band; further and it drops below it.

The efficiency cost

Efficacy, computed from the published figures

50 µmol/s ÷ 36 W = 1.39 µmol/J.

That is the lowest of anything we cover — roughly half the 2.7 µmol/J of an AC Infinity board.

Concretely: to deliver the same photons as a 2.7 µmol/J fixture you would draw about double the power. Over a five-month winter at 14 hours that is the difference between roughly $42 and $83.

The design premium is paid twice — once at purchase and again every month on the meter. Whether that is worth it depends entirely on whether the fixture is visible.

What you are actually buying

A 3.5 × 3.5 × 6.2 inch pendant with 3000 K warm white at CRI 98, an in-line dimmer from 10 to 100%, and a 50,000-hour rated life. In other words: a light fitting that happens to grow plants, rather than a grow light you tolerate the look of.

Every other fixture on this site is a shed or shelf product. This is the one you hang over a fiddle-leaf fig in a room where people sit, and the CRI 98 warm white means it reads as a normal lamp. That is the entire value proposition and it is a real one.

Where it makes sense, and where it does not
SituationVerdictWhy
A large plant in a living roomThe reason it existsLooks like a light fitting; warm white at CRI 98
A low-light plant hung within about 3 ftGoodPublished PPFD puts it at the low band, which suits those plants
Herbs, greens or seedlingsNo50 µmol/s is far short of what those need
Anywhere nobody looksNoYou are paying a design premium and double the electricity for nothing

Running cost

36 W at 12 hours is 12.96 kWh a month, about $2.38 — trivial in absolute terms. The efficiency argument only bites when you compare it against what the same electricity would buy in photons elsewhere, which for a decorative fixture may simply not be the relevant comparison.

The fixture in full

A pendant grow light hanging over a large indoor plant in a living room

Soltech Aspect Gen 2

Pendant

The only fixture here you would willingly hang in a living room, and the only one publishing PPFD at three separate distances so it can actually be placed by the numbers.

What Soltech publishes

Power draw
36 W (source)
PPF (photon output)
50 umol/s (source)
PPFD
about 50 umol/m2/s at 1 m, 34.9 at 4 ft, 15.5 at 6 ft (source)
Spectrum
3000 K warm white, CRI 98 (source)
Dimming
Yes, in-line dimmer 10-100% (source)
Dimensions
3.5 x 3.5 x 6.2 inches (source)
Rated life
50,000 hours (source)

Our arithmetic

  • Efficacy, computed from the published figures: 1.39 umol/J
    50 umol/s / 36 W = 1.39 umol/J. Roughly half the efficacy of a 2.7 umol/J board — the design premium is paid twice, once at purchase and again every month on the meter.

Who should skip it

Skip it if photons per watt is the metric that matters. At 50 umol/s from 36 W it is the least efficient fixture on this page, and much of the price is industrial design.

Questions people actually ask

+How much light does the Soltech Aspect actually produce?
Soltech publishes 50 µmol/s of photon output and PPFD figures of about 50 µmol/m²/s at 1 m, 34.9 at 4 ft and 15.5 at 6 ft. That places it at the bottom of the low-light band at around 3.3 feet, which suits low-light foliage plants and not much else.
+Is the Soltech Aspect worth the money?
If it is hanging somewhere people can see it, the design is the product and the comparison to a shed fixture is not the relevant one. If it is going in a spare room, you are paying a premium at purchase and roughly double the electricity per photon for nothing.
+Why is the Aspect less efficient than a panel?
50 µmol/s from 36 W works out to 1.39 µmol/J, against 2.3 to 2.75 for the panels we cover. Compact decorative fixtures have far less surface for heat sinking and are optimized for appearance and color rendering rather than photons per watt.
+Can the Soltech Aspect grow herbs or vegetables?
Not well. Herbs and greens want 250 to 400 µmol/m²/s, and this fixture publishes 34.9 at four feet. You would need it very close over a very small area, which defeats the purpose of a pendant.

Sources

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Where this sits

This page belongs to Fixture Reviews and Roundups. Every figure on it is either quoted from a named published source or derived in view — the full method is on our methodology page, and how the site is funded is on the affiliate disclosure.