Cannabis Business Times and Fluence Reveal Record LED Usage Across All Cannabis Cultivation Stages

Seventh-annual “State of the Cannabis Lighting Market” report produced by Cannabis Business Times highlights domination of LEDs in cannabis grows

Fluence, a leading global provider of energy-efficient LED lighting solutions for commercial cannabis and food production, today announced the release of the seventh-annual “State of the Cannabis Lighting Market” report produced by Cannabis Business Times, a national publication dedicated to the ongoing advancement of legal cannabis cultivators.

Results from the 2022 report demonstrate the increasing usage of LED lighting technology across all growth stages of cannabis cultivation. For the first time ever, at least 70% of study participants from commercial indoor or greenhouse operations with supplemental lighting used LEDs in cannabis propagation, vegetation and/or flowering stages. The report also demonstrates an increase in LED usage by more than 50 percentage points since the study’s first year in 2016.

These impressive findings emerge against the background of the industry facing a complex set of headwinds, including supply chain shortages, a rise in capital improvement costs, a cannabis surplus in North America and increasing inflation rates.

“The pioneering spirit and relentless pursuit of excellence that cannabis growers have always brought to the industry has never been more apparent,” said David Cohen, CEO of Fluence. “This year’s report combined with Fluence’s own industry-leading research continue to affirm the important role of LED lighting in achieving even more efficient and productive economies of scale.”

The report provides a holistic view into the connection between lighting solutions and plant growth across all stages—propagation, vegetation and flowering. Key findings from the report, which helps accelerate the success of plant-touching companies in the legal cannabis industry with actionable intelligence in all aspects of the business, include:

• 83% of participants list energy efficiency as the top benefit of using LED lighting.
• 46% of participants considering implementing or retrofitting with LEDs cite lower power usage as the top purchasing driver.
• 53% of participants named “light intensity” the top factor driving their light purchasing decisions for flowering—up 13 percentage points from last year.
• 47% of growers cite the importance of fixture-dimming capabilities and allowing for greater lighting flexibility, up from 36% in 2021.
• Among study participants representing non-LED-powered operations, 30% plan to add LEDs for flowering within the next 12 months.
• 51% of growers are interested in exploring side, intercanopy, subcanopy or other lighting in addition to top lighting.

“In 2016, when Cannabis Business Times first launched the ‘State of the Cannabis Lighting Market’ report in partnership with Fluence, eight states had legalized cannabis for adult-use consumption,” said Michelle Simakis, editor-in-chief of Cannabis Business Times. “Seven years later, there are 19 states that have legalized adult-use cannabis, and more states with medical programs than without. The industry has evolved greatly during that short time. The ‘State of the Cannabis Lighting Market’ report, using independent, third-party research, has captured how cultivation lighting strategies have changed to meet growing and new markets, and offers comparative data and insights into key studies with a window into not only what’s happening in growing facilities now but what’s next in lighting.”

The 2022 “State of the Cannabis Lighting Market” study was conducted by Readex Research. Participants included North American cannabis cultivators. View the full report on Fluence’s website or in Cannabis Business Times’ October issue.

For more information on Fluence, visit www.fluence.science.

About Fluence

Fluence Bioengineering, Inc. (Fluence) creates powerful and energy-efficient LED lighting solutions for commercial crop production and research applications. Fluence is a leading LED lighting supplier in the global cannabis market and is committed to enabling more efficient crop production with the world’s top vertical farms and greenhouse produce growers. Fluence global headquarters are in Austin, Texas, with its EMEA headquarters in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Fluence operates as a business unit within Signify’s Digital Solutions division. For more information about Fluence, visit www.fluence.science.

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