Yes, fluorescent lighting will contribute to pant fade over time.
Good news is that LED lighting, thankfully, continues to come down in cost now that its use has become wide spread in the commercial and residential lighting markets.
According to http://www.premierltg.com/do-led-lights-produce-uv-led-tanning-beds/, contrary to a widespread belief, some LED lights do produce UV rays but at a far lower rate than conventional lighting options.
I have noticed on various photos of modelers (with beautiful shelf and double deck layouts) that installed their lighting just 2 to 3 feet above their layouts. I don't see a problem if the lighting is very soft, subued, and is being used to highlight certain scenes. But using (in close range) flourescent or incandescent light sources that emit between 4000K and 5500K, imho, can potentially speed up a model's paint finish appearance to that of something that would fit in a "1970s Penn Central" scene!
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
richhotrainThe paint in the bottle looks red. The long ago painted buildings look purplish red. Does paint faint? Could fluorescent light cause paint color to fade? Rich
Paint faint? Only if it gets bad news...
...But yeah, fluorescent lamps put out UV light, which fades stuff significantly over time. Plus the color-rendering can be off under such lights, unless you're using a Chroma 50 or similar spec tube that compensates. Another reason why I like my LEDs. You can get clear tube covers that filter out the UV light, which does help and are often used at museums, although they tend to switch to more efficient lighting now that it's available and has lower energy consumption.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I have used Polly Scale Box Car Red extensively on my buildings over the past 15 years.
Alton Junction