Fluence and Cannabis Business Times’ Annual Report Reinforces Dominant Adoption of LEDs

Fluence, a provider of energy-efficient LED lighting solutions for commercial cannabis and food production, announced 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.