One of the most financially intensive elements of any cannabis grow is the lighting. Whether it's an indoor cultivation or a greenhouse with artificial supplemental lighting, the amount of capital needed is substantial, to say the least. With the industry increasingly shifting toward the adoption of LED solutions, the legacy of a "wild west" kind of LED market from 10 years ago still looms heavily over growers considering this option. "The overall market penetration of LEDs across the indoor growing industry – including food and floriculture - is about 10-15%. Most growers haven't transitioned yet," says Kasey Holland from Design Light Consortium, a non-profit organization that establishes a set of technical requirements for lighting manufacturers to comply with in order to receive the much sought-after DLC stamp. "Obviously, the majority of new growers are going for LEDs."
Adopting LEDs
The benefits of LEDs are now well known throughout the horticulture industry, from lower operational costs to greater flexibility thanks to the ability to fine tune their spectral composition and dimmability to match a crop's exact needs. "The trend we've noticed is that growers are becoming more willing to invest in this," Kasey says. However, there is a notable difference between food horticulture growers and cannabis growers. "Cannabis growers are some of the best adopters in this space. There's much more capital involved, and they are willing to take that chance." In addition to cannabis, there are also vertical farms, which are naturally almost exclusively run with LEDs—just imagine a lettuce head growing under an HPS lamp burning right above its dome. "Floriculture is lagging behind, but the transition is starting. However, LEDs are becoming increasingly popular in food production as well, such as in greenhouses."
Every two to three years, the DLC proposes a new version of its horticultural technical requirements. "We make a proposal to revise those requirements and invite comments on them as well. For instance, last November, we put out the proposal for version 4. We talk with stakeholders, and over a six-week period, we gather as many comments as we can to better understand if the things we are proposing are acceptable and not too burdensome on manufacturers. We are now looking to finalize the policy in March, and then we'll start listing the products."
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Looking for the right fixture
The qualified product list is indeed the most renowned resource provided by the DLC, where growers can browse their catalog to see the different specifications and features of each lighting fixture that has passed the DLC test. On their website, growers can easily access the product list, filter the search by specific criteria, and view all products that meet those requirements. A technical sheet also details many of the features of the LEDs in question. Interestingly, Kasey notes that more than 90% of the LEDs on the product list are dimmable. "Dimmability was a big topic when we included it in our product technical sheets," Kasey said. "When we first introduced our technical requirements, we sometimes received pushback because some manufacturers didn't want to update their fixtures. However, that sentiment has now flipped, and some of those who initially resisted are now proponents of dimmability." It's important to note that a fixture isn't automatically excluded when new technical requirements are released; manufacturers have six months to update their products to meet the DLC standards.
The change in sentiment within the lighting industry can also be seen in renowned brands, such as Gavita, which used to offer little to no LED options but now almost exclusively deals with LEDs. "That is an indicator that LEDs are going to penetrate the market more and more, to the point where they'll become the most common lighting solution in most horticultural operations," Kasey said.
Thus, the future of LED lighting surely shines bright in the horticulture industry, although it is just one of the elements that make up controlled environment agriculture (CEA) operations. That is why the DLC is working on something new to help horticultural operators. "Last year, we hosted a technical working group and looked into controls to figure out if there's something we can do there, similar to what we do in lighting. In general, one key finding of the value proposition of controls is that if you can implement daily light integral dimming—providing just the supplemental light needed regardless of the crop—experts estimate 50% energy savings just by incorporating those controls." In other words, there are significant energy savings to be realized beyond just switching to LEDs.
For more information:
DesignLights Consortium
Tel.: +1 781-538-6425
[email protected]
www.designlights.org