Fluence and Cannabis Business Times’ Annual “State of the Cannabis Lighting Market” Report Reinforces Dominant Adoption of LEDs, Positive Impact on Yields

Cover image for "2023 State of the Cannabis Lighting Market" report by Fluence, Austin-based LED lighting innovators, showcasing a stylized glowing cannabis leaf on a black backdrop, emphasizing advanced agricultural lighting solutions.

02 Nov Fluence and Cannabis Business Times’ Annual “State of the Cannabis Lighting Market” Report Reinforces Dominant Adoption of LEDs, Positive Impact on Yields

Posted at 09:00h in News from Fluence by Fluence Bioengineering

Eighth annual “State of the Cannabis Lighting Market” report highlights the sustained high rate of LED adoption among commercial cannabis growers

AUSTIN, Texas & ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (Nov. 2, 2023)—Fluence, a leading global provider of energy-efficient LED lighting solutions for commercial cannabis and food production, announced today the eighth-annual “State of the Cannabis Lighting Market” report. The report is developed collaboratively with and distributed by Cannabis Business Times, a national publication focused on helping accelerate the success and normalization of the legal cannabis market by providing actionable intelligence to help all aspects of the business succeed and grow.

The accelerated adoption of LEDs among commercial cannabis growers continued to be a dominant theme in this year’s report. For the second year in a row, at least 70% of study participants from commercial indoor or greenhouse operations with supplemental lighting used LEDs in propagation, vegetation or flowering. Under LED technology, this year’s survey also revealed that 66% of commercial growers reported a yield of more than 50 grams per square foot of canopy—an increase of 11 percentage points from 2022.

“Fluence remains dedicated to providing industry-leading support for cannabis cultivators. That includes collaborating with leading authorities like Cannabis Business Times to publish the ‘State of the Cannabis Lighting Market’ report to amplify growers’ voices and provide critical insights into how they are navigating the market,” said Steve Graves, senior vice president of strategy and product at Fluence.

This year’s “State of the Cannabis Lighting Market” report highlights many growers’ increasing focus on crop quality as an important differentiator in a market seeing oversaturation and consolidation. A majority of respondents in this year’s survey (62%) listed “crop quality” as the most important factor for using LEDs in cannabis production—“yield” came in second place at 16%.

“In the midst of economic and operational headwinds, we will continue to uphold our commitment to advancing LED adoption and helping cultivators improve their yields and support their financial success through innovative lighting strategies,” Graves said.

Growers in this year’s survey who are not planning to use LEDs in cannabis flowering cited fears related to return on investment and capital expenditures. Yet more than half of survey respondents (56%) haven’t explored rebates, which are one of the most effective cost-saving tools available to growers making capital investments—while another quarter of respondents (24%) are aware of rebates but don’t plan to apply for one. Fluence’s award-winning rebate program has saved growers more than $26 million to date.

“The findings in the 2023 ‘State of the Cannabis Lighting Market’ report illustrate just how quickly the industry continues to evolve and adapt to ever-changing market realities,” said Michelle Simakis, editor-in-chief of Cannabis Business Times. “Having eight years of data allows us to see how cultivation companies continue to innovate and experiment with lighting technology and strategies, developing best practices to cultivate high quality cannabis efficiently. One of the most dramatic changes since 2016, the first year of the study, has been LED adoption, which has increased by nearly 60 percentage points in both veg and flower and by more than 50 percentage points in propagation.”

View the full report on the Fluence website or in Cannabis Business Times’ November/December issue.

For more information on Fluence, visit www.fluence-led.com.

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-led.com.

Methodology

Readex Research conducted the study and compiled the data for the 2023 “State of the Cannabis Lighting Market” report. During July and August 2023, the research questionnaire went out to all emailable, active, qualified subscribers to Cannabis Business Times magazine located in the United States or Canada. To provide information most pertinent to commercial cannabis cultivators, research results focused on the 126 research participants who own or work for an operation that grows cannabis in an indoor facility and/or greenhouse. Data was then refined to exclude non-commercial operations. Unless otherwise indicated, the results found within this report represent participants who cultivate cannabis commercially indoors and/or in greenhouses, with or without supplemental lighting. The margin of error for percentages based on the 126 participants who reported they own or work for an operation that grows cannabis in an indoor facility and/or greenhouse, with or without supplemental lights, is ± 8.7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.