Fluence’s “State of Cannabis Lighting Market” Report Reveals Double-Digit Growth in LED Lighting Use

In collaboration with Cannabis Business Times, report details evolving grower sentiment toward lighting solutions and considerations for facility design

Fluence by OSRAM (Fluence), a leading global provider of energy-efficient LED lighting solutions for commercial cannabis and agriculture production, today released findings from its fourth annual "State of the Cannabis Lighting Market" report conducted in partnership with Cannabis Business Times, whose mission is to accelerate the success of legal cannabis cultivators.


The report—based on hundreds of responses from cultivators surveyed by nationally recognized, third-party researcher Readex Research—compares four years of LED lighting trends in North America, including purchasing behavior and cultivation challenges.

Key findings include:

Seventy-two percent of research participants noted that energy efficiency and light intensity are the most important factors when making lighting purchases.
Since 2016, LED use has grown faster than any other type of lighting technology, with double-digit growth from 2016 to 2019 in all stages of plant growth (propagation, vegetation and flowering).
More than a quarter of cultivators (26 percent) reported that lighting comprises a majority of their cultivation operations' electricity costs—at 55 percent or more.
In his opening letter for the 2019 report, Fluence CEO David Cohen wrote, "The increasing conversions to LEDs—whether through retrofitting or in initial facility design—says more about their viability than I or anyone else ever could."

"Early adopters are systematically ridding the industry of any lingering suspicions of the role LEDs play in critical areas like cannabinoid and terpene production, crop uniformity and yield, and energy efficiency," Cohen continued.

The research reflects the magazine's commitment to providing standardized research in a nascent market, delivering year-over-year comparisons and supporting insights from university researchers dedicated to studying the interaction between light and life.

"The cannabis industry is rapidly evolving, and this research is just one way cultivators can either confirm or challenge commonly held beliefs about the most effective methods for growing cannabis," said Cannabis Business Times Editor Michelle Simakis. "Lighting is one of the most integral factors in building a high-yield cannabis facility, and this research has helped build year-over-year comparisons of first-ever industry data to help cultivators monitor industry trends and best practices in lighting."

The full report is available on the Fluence website and in Cannabis Business Times' November issue. Reports will also be available in the Fluence and GIE Media booths, located at C3325 and C6333 respectively, at MJBizCon in Las Vegas from Dec. 11 to Dec. 13, 2019.

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

About Fluence by OSRAM

Fluence Bioengineering, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of OSRAM, creates the most powerful and energy-efficient LED lighting solutions for commercial crop production and research applications. Fluence is the 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 based in Austin, Texas, with its EMEA headquarters in Munich, Germany. For more information about Fluence, visit https://fluence.science.

Featured Product

Get enhanced vision-powered systems for Auto Farming!

Get enhanced vision-powered systems for Auto Farming!

e-con Systems leads the way in Agriculture Automation, leveraging over 20 years of expertise in OEM camera design, development, and manufacturing. e-con's diverse camera range, featuring advanced capabilities and partnerships with leading sensor technology providers like Sony, onsemi, and OmniVision, is tailored for various smart farming applications such as weed detection, bug identification, crop health monitoring, and harvesting automation. The recent addition of e-con's 20MP camera captures tiny details, enhancing efficiency in crop monitoring and automated machinery guidance. e-con cameras offer versatile interfaces, exceptional low-light performance, expert ISP tuning, multi-camera support, HDR, long-distance capabilities, and customizable features, empowering agriculture automation. e-con specializes in providing AI-ready multi-camera solutions for real-time decision-making. e-con Systems has empowered numerous clients in the smart farming industry to develop and deploy futuristic agricultural systems, including agricultural robots, autonomous tractors, and drones. As NVIDIA's Elite partner, e-con Systems revolutionizes agricultural applications with deep learning algorithms for NVIDIA Jetson kits, expediting time-to-market for customers.