Some of the best lighting around are the specialized fluorescent tubes used to promote coral growth in tropical aquariums. It's very close to full-spectrum sunlight and can be simply set up over a desk. Also great for small plants.
Be careful of UV exposure from aquarium coral lamps.
Any bulb / hardware recommendations? Also what do you think of mixing UV in there in some limited quantity?
How are they in terms of energy consumption?
Each 2 ft tube is 25 W. It's basically a simple fluorescent tube, but the inner surface is coated with a special collection of phosphors that absorbs the incident radiation and re-radiates in a sun-like spectrum. They're a bit pricey relative to ordinary fluorescents, but the effect is really nice.