Towards Sustainable Lighting For Commercial Cannabis ProductionNeil Yorio – V.P. Plant Lighting Research - AgricultureBiological Innovation and Optimization Systems (BIOS)

How Can We Make A More Sustainable Cannabis Industry?

By Making Appropriate Decisions And Taking Action Today To Reduce Environmental Impacts And Protect Our Natural Resources For Tomorrow

Human Space Exploration – The Sustainability Challenge

Buzz Aldrin – 2nd Human to Walk on the Moon Denver Relief’s Cannabis Strain “Outer Space”

Conceptual Lunar or Mars Greenhouse Biomass Production Chamber, NASA KSC

Reduction of Power Required to Support Mission

Studies on Quantity of Light on Yield

Many Technologies Are Marketed for Horticultural Lighting

Double Ended HPS

Light Emitting Diode (LED)

Light Emitting Plasma

Fluorescent

Induction Fluorescent

High Pressure Sodium

Metal Halide

Ceramic Metal Halide

?All Were Developed for Human Lighting Applications

Electric Lighting Technologies for Horticulture

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Phot

ons (

µmol

/s)

Wavelength (nm)

Electric Lighting Technologies for Agricultural ApplicationsNormalized to Equal PAR (400-700 nm)

HPSMHFluorescentPlasmaIcarusPAR

UV-A Far-Red

LED

Plant Lighting Measurement Terminology Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)

– Light used for photosynthesis – All photons between 400 and 700 nm Photosynthetic Photon Flux (PPF) & PPF Density (PPFD)

– Quantitative instantaneous measurement of PAR– PPF = Rate of production of PAR photons (µmol s-1)– PPFD = Rate of PAR photons striking a known area (µmol m-2 s-1)

PAR Photon Efficacy– Conversion efficiency of power (watts or Joules/s) to PAR (µmol J-1)

Daily Light Integral (DLI)– The amount of PAR light received during a photoperiod (mol PAR photons m-2 d-1)

Examples of PPFD and DLI

• Full Noon Sunlight is ~2000 µmol m-2 s-1

• Middle Latitude Winter is ~5-10 mol m-2 d-1

• Summer is ~30-40 mol m-2 d-1

• Cannabis Flower: 600 - 1000 µmol m-2 s-1

• Cannabis Flower: 26 - 43 mol m-2 d-1

Do People and Plants “See” the Same Spectrum?

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Wavelength (nm)

Relative Quantum Efficiency (RQE), Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR), Photopic Response, and Icarus LED Spectrum

RQE PAR Photopic Icarus

• The human brain “weights” the photons based on the photopicresponse curve

• The plant light-absorbing pigments use all wavelengths similarly• Photosynthesis and growth are primarily dependent on number of

PAR photons and not wavelength (spectrum)

Performance Comparison Between Commercial Lighting Technologies.

Source Watts PPFµmol/s

Efficacyµmol/J

HPS

1000W Magnetic 1004 1161 1.16

1000W Electronic 1024 1333 1.30

Double-ended 1000W 1041 1767 1.70

LED

Lowest LED 423 378 0.89

Highest LED 384 653 1.70

BIOS Icarus Gi* 660 1220 1.85

Ceramic Metal Halide

315W 3100K 337 491 1.46

Fluorescent

60W T8 58 48 0.84

400W Induction 394 374 0.95

Plasma

300W LEP* 300 300 1.00

Table Derived From: Nelson, J.A. and B. Bugbee (2014) Economic Analysis of Greenhouse Lighting: Light Emitting Diodes vs. High Intensity Discharge Fixtures http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0099010

*Derived from third party photometric lab analysis

Light Intensity – Equivalent or improved PPFD on canopy– Superior PAR photon efficacy (µmol/J)

Optimized Spectrum – PAR wavelengths most efficiently absorbed for photosynthesis

Light Uniformity – Consistent and optimal crop yields and quality

Energy Savings– > 50% compared to HPS for equivalent light.

Longevity and Durability– > 50,000 hours of operation (> 11 years @ 12 hours/day)– Design and construction suitable for commercial crop production

environmentsReduction of Hazardous Materials

– No mercury or other harmful materials contaminating crop– Creates no hazardous waste to manage

LED Technology Provides Significant Improvements to These Key Plant Lighting Parameters

Challenge: Environmental Sustainability

When People Think of LED Grow Lights….

They Usually Think “Purple” Light

Photosynthetic Pigments in Plants

The McCree Curve: Photosynthetic response in situ averaged for numerous species of plants

Wavelength absorption of photosynthetic pigments in vitro

A High Output, High Efficiency Broad Spectrum LED Fixture is Possible

• Improved color saturation• Improved working environment• Improved photosynthetic pigment absorption across PAR range• Improved ability to assess plant health status

• Insect detection• Disease detection• Nutrient deficiency/toxicity detection

Challenge: Social Sustainability

LED vs. HPS ResultsCanada #1 Canada #2 Denver Relief #1 Denver Relief #2 NWCS

Treatment Bud Dry Weight

(g/plant)

THC (%)

CBD (%)

Bud Dry Weight

(g/plant)

THC (%)

CBD (%)

Bud Dry Weight

(g/plant)

THC (%)

CBD (%)

Bud Dry Weight

(g/plant)

THC (%)

CBD (%)

Bud Dry Weight

(g/plant)

THC (%)

CBD (%)

Icarus LED 66.5 0.45 11.0 181.7 5.45 8.12 78.5 15.8 - 263.6 22.0 - 126.0 - -

1000W HPS 36.5 0.48 11.1 156.8 4.23 6.36 47.6 15.8 - 139.9 22.7 - 119.0 - -

% Change 82 -7 -0.9 16 29 28 65 0 - 88 -3 - 6 - -

Terpene (mg/g) 1000W HPS Icarus LED % Difference

(-)-Borneol 0.102 0.125 22(-)-Caryophyllene oxide 0.271 0.257 -5(L)-a-Terpineol 0.294 0.323 10b-Pinene 0.267 0.425 59Geraniol 0.132 0.130 -2Limonene 1.22 2.750 125Linalool 0.746 0.834 12Myrcene 1.00 3.775 278Terpinolene 0.0801 0.102 27trans-Caryophyllene 14.4 11.650 -19

Terpene analysis between HPS-grown vs. Icarus LED-grown “Gorilla Glue #4” at the Denver Relief production facility (GCMS analysis date 1/12/2016 by Bona Fides Laboratory, Inc.).

Example: Power Consumption and Yield Performance

FixtureWattage Qty Total

kWYield

(g/year)Total

kWh/yearYield

(g/kWh)Yield

(g/ft2)Yield Value

($)Electrical Cost/year

Heat Load BTU/h

HVAC Tons

660W LED 660 100 66 272,500 221,760 1.23 34.1 $973,214 $23,950 225,201 19

1000W DE HPS 1060 100 106 235,250 400,512 0.59 29.4 $840,179 $43,255 361,687 30

Difference - 400 -- - 40 + 37,250 - 178,752 + 0.64 + 4.7 + $133,035 - $19,305 - 136,486 - 11

Data extrapolated from Canada Test #2

Assumptions:• 5 flowering cycles per year• 56 day flowering cycle (280 days/year)• $0.108 per kWh• kWh/year for HPS includes additional HVAC cooling above

what is required for LED• Flower price of $1,600/lb

LED Return on Investment (ROI)

LED Technology + Cannabis Production = Increased Revenue + Cash Flow

Based on an example 10,000 square foot facility and selection of an appropriate industrial grade LED product, a grower can expect:

– $170,644 in annual energy savings*– $131,880 in annual maintenance savings**– $474,996 in annual revenue increase***– Additional savings on reduction of HVAC CapEx costs

These cost savings and revenue increase amount to a 574% ROI over the product’s lifetime and an 11 month payback period (new construction)

*Based on Xcel Energy’s average commercial rate of $0.108 in Colorado** Assuming one HPS lamp ($100) is replaced every six months, and one ballast ($250) every 2.5 years***Based on a modest 5% yield increase typically experienced with a industrial grade LED product

Challenge: Economic Sustainability

The Risks with LED Product Selection No Performance Standards in Agricultural Lighting Technology

– The LED “Black-Eye” syndrome

Lack of Expertise to Integrate LED lighting into the Horticultural Environment– The user has to figure out how to use it

Consumer-Grade Products Targeted to Commercial Operations– The tractor vs. the lawnmower

Overcomplicated Products– Unnecessary features = unnecessary risk

Lighting Uniformity– Uniform lighting leads to uniform yield and quality

Majority of LED grow lighting products are not commercial gradeCommercial growers need to know the difference

Demand Accurate and Appropriate Performance Data!

Total delivered PAR in terms of µmol PAR/s

Delivered fixture efficiency in terms of µmol PAR/J

Actual fixture wattage (not a sum of the individual LED wattage)

Average PAR levels over a defined area at different mounting heights

Independent, certified third party photometric lab analysis reduced to plant-centric units

Durable construction designed for the applicationStandards for Reporting Electric Lighting Performance for Agricultural Applications Now Underway with the American Society for Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) Committee ES-311

Thank You

Happy Growing

And Looking Forward to Seeing You In A Sustainable

Cannabis Production Future!