Blog
Stop by frequently to learn our perspective on industry issues and LED lighting & energy news are blazing trails in the CEA market.
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UYS Helps Electrical Contractors Profit From Indoor Farming
A note to Electrical Contractors from our President, Andrew Montgomery: Indoor farming (aka, Controlled Environment Agriculture) is booming in many regions — and coming soon everywhere else. And without proper power, lighting, and control systems installed by trained experts, farmers know their indoor crops will not meet yield expectations (or maybe not grow at all). Trained…
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Indoor Growers Fight Pests & Diseases with LED Lighting
Horticultural lighting in indoor growing facilities and nighttime treatment with specific wavelengths on outdoor crops are being shown to reduce pests and diseases that impact yields and profits. Integrated Pest Management & Biocontrols New research suggests that indoor growers and greenhouse operators can use lighting to fight pests as part of an Integrated Pest Management…
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Lighting Rebates for Controlled Environment Agriculture Facilities
What Are Commercial Lighting Rebates? Commercial lighting rebates are incentives provided by utility companies, government agencies, or other organizations to encourage the use of energy-efficient lighting systems in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) operations. These rebates are designed to offset the upfront costs of purchasing and installing energy-efficient lighting systems, which can be more expensive than…
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Musings on The Mega Show MJBizCon 2022
Originally published by LightNow News by Guest Author Andy Montgomery, President of Ultra Yield Solutions. This year’s MJBizCon was a mix of new market enthusiasm subdued by mature market malaise. Like previous shows, stalwart lighting brands prominently displayed their wares including Gavita, Fluence, HLG, Signify, Fohse, etc. Booths were massive with most providing sunglasses to…
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CEA Lessons Learned from Europe
You can’t take for granted that water will always be readily available.
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Top Industry Challenges for CEA
At a recent Resource Innovation Institute (RII)* conference, the attendees discussed common industry challenges impacting CEA growers consistently. While the breath of topics were varied, it was impressive to hear about the obstacles they face from those actively working in the industry. It was apparent they care deeply about solving the food insecurity issues occurring…
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Powering Your Indoor Growing Facility
You’ve found an old warehouse ideal for growing. It has water, a loading dock, a pool of potential employees, not far from retail customers, a sweetheart deal from the building owner, and local SMB tax credits to boot! With a little luck from contractors and building inspectors, you could be harvesting within a year. How…
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The ROI of LED
The key to profitability is driving out cost. This mantra is critical to any manufacturing facility regardless of what it produces. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) is a classic example of leveraging scale and smart infrastructure to enjoy good profitability. The cannabis market is feeling extreme profit crunch, particularly in mature markets, making operational efficiency the…
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More to Lighting than Lights
Human lighting serves a very different purpose than plant lighting. Humans use light to see. Plants use light to exist as it’s the most critical component to photosynthesis. Sunlight starts a chain reaction in plants that creates carbohydrates (sugars) that eventually become apples, tomatoes, lettuce, and more. Perhaps there’s a reason “Let there be light”…
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Looking Back
While 2021 was troublesome for many sectors, cannabis was not one of them. New legal states, facility expansion, acquisition, legislation, mergers, money. The flow of activity in the U.S. was rampant featuring 209 deals totaling over $10 Billion – more than occurred in 2019 and 2020 combined (source: MjBizDaily.com)! That said, growth slowed in many states. California, the…
