While much of the media and the world was surprised with the results of the U.S. election, one part of the LED lighting industry that is sure to get a boost are the companies that make LED grow lights. As part of the election, several states voted on measures to either legalize recreational use of marijuana or legalize medicinal marijuana.
Growing of marijuana (also known as cannabis) is among the most energy-intensive industries. Growers that want to remain competitive have a tremendous economic incentive to switch to LED-based grow lights. The Cannabis legalization for both the recreational or medicinal use instantly increases the potential market for LED grow lights.
In the election, Florida, North Dakota, and Arkansas approved medical marijuana initiatives, and California, Nevada, and Massachusetts have chosen to legalize recreation marijuana use. (Ref: article).
Horticulturists have known for some time that growing with specially tuned LED lights can increase growth and improve profits. Additionally, recent studies including a study from the Netherlands have proven that LED lighting and brighter lighting can help grow cannabis with more medicinally active substances such as Cannabinoid Oil (CBN) and therefore can make more potent plants. (Ref: Article).
Several key players in LED lighting are set to benefit from the expected boom in the Cannabis growth industry. Philips likely has the most invested in the science of grow lights and specifically in the science of growing Cannabis. Philips has commercialized its GreenPower LED lighting product line for horticultural and agricultural applications.
A smaller LED lighting firm, Lighting Science for the past year has sold the LED grow light product VividGro.
(Ref: article). Lighting Science says that during the year sales of VividGro have doubled.
LED producer Osram Opto Semiconductors can also expect to benefit from the sale of LEDs for Cannabis growth systems.
Another LED company that can also expect to get some boost from the Cannabis boom is Cree. Cree produces an extremely broad range of colored LEDs for horticultural applications.A relatively small private U.S. company, Advanced LED Lights.com just makes LED grow lights that use 3W and 10W Cree LEDs.
A relatively small private U.S. company, Advanced LED Lights just makes LED grow lights that use 3W and 10W Cree LEDs.
While the Swedish company, Heliospectra AB produces LED grow lights for both greenhouse and indoor growth horticulture operations.
Although the horticultural LED market is a relatively small segment of the LED lighting industry, even giants such as Philips, and Osram, and important players such as Cree will likely see some benefits from the new U.S. Cannabis laws.
