Customer pain points led to the development of RAPTR, a new LED fixture that allows for a true 1:1 retrofit.
For many companies, bringing a new product to market is a standalone project with a distinct beginning and end. But for Jordon Musser, chief operating officer and chief product officer at Fluence, product research and development doesn’t have start and stop dates—product teams never stop evolving.
In the case of RAPTR, a newly introduced high-performance, high-output top light, the idea for the lighting solution started with customers sharing their needs, gaps in lighting options, and cultivation insights. The concept first took form in 2020 as the Fluence team identified hurdles facing cultivation facilities in the switch from HPS lighting to LEDs.
“With energy prices continuing to go up, we saw a need to possibly reduce the customer’s operating expenses through less power input without losing photons, but also—with cannabis especially—promote the opportunity to increase yield with more PPFD,” Musser explains.
Ongoing Fluence research had already proven the industry hadn’t yet reached a saturation point for photons in cannabis. There was no question that more power and higher light intensities equate to higher yields, but the team was also aware that many growers considering HPS replacement had existing infrastructure to support about 1,000 watts per fixture at most. However, retrofitting outside that range involved more than just replacing HPS lights with LEDs.
Musser explains that focusing on what existing infrastructures were built to accept allowed for the generation of a true 1:1 HPS replacement that became RAPTR. It also eliminated costly infrastructure upgrades to support the increased light intensity that RAPTR brings. Put simply: Musser found a way to engineer using the same infrastructure to deliver more light.
“The goal is to maximize fixture output while staying below the energy consumption of what we’re replacing to ensure the wiring and switchgear and the rest of the electrical infrastructure can remain in place,” Musser says. In addition, the RAPTR line utilizes standard Weiland RST input connectors, which allows growers to retain their current facility cordage.
Musser explains that Fluence development of products like RAPTR involves three ongoing, converging processes that he refers to as top-down and bottom-up.
The top-down approach begins with customers, understanding their cultivation practices and working to optimize products around them. This holistic approach goes beyond photons and product costs to consider labor, shadowing, ease of assembly and installation, operating costs, longevity and other customer pain points.
“One of the things that makes Fluence unique is that a significant amount of our sales team are ex-growers and still grow as a hobby,” Musser says. “Many team members on our sales and technical teams have also cultivated in their own facilities at a commercial scale. The result is a recognizable voice within the company that augments grower feedback and enables candid, highly informed internal discussions among people with firsthand experience in commercial grows.”
The second part of Musser’s development equation is the bottom-up approach. That starts with basic engineering and physics fundamentals in R&D, while the product development team looks at use cases and how Fluence customers actually interact with their products.
“Ultimately, those two things collide into what is most likely the best product for our customer utilizing the right technologies that are available and mature today,” Musser notes. And products such as RAPTR are born.
RAPTR’s development focused on two categories of growers: those looking to maximize light intensity and yields, and those satisfied with their current practices but seeking energy savings. In response, the line offers a 1020-watt, high-performance option to maximize output, alongside an 800-watt version for lower energy use. The line also offers two optical distributions—a standard 120° clear cover and a 150° wide lens—as well as five spectra options to meet grower needs.
With RAPTR’s output well beyond 2,000 micromoles, Musser explains growers can achieve significantly higher PPFDs. “Depending on mounting heights, 1,900 micromoles [measured at the plant tissue], would not be that challenging to achieve,” he says.
In addition, RAPTR’s typical application places fixtures slightly farther from plants than other products. This enables overlap, so growers can achieve higher PPFDs with fewer fixtures. Musser notes that means less costs, less maintenance and less labor, too. And, because it’s a single-piece product, installation is simpler. “That can help significantly because labor can be a pretty big percentage of the lighting retrofit or installation cost,” he adds.
RAPTR’s development also considered the hassle growers face in keeping lighting clean. Musser says the team invested considerable time and work to design something as small as possible—given the features included—without large horizontal surfaces or big fins where dirt and dust get stuck. This makes the line easier to keep clean and, because RAPTR has a lens, fixtures are easier to clean when cleaning is necessary.
Before Fluence products like RAPTR hit the market, they endure what Musser’s team calls a QTP, or quality test protocol. “That’s an onslaught of tests that are designed to ensure the product performs to the grower’s expectation over the entire life of the product, not just on day one,” he shares. The testing transcends photometry and distribution to simulate and accelerate long-term wear and tear in the growing environment to ensure products lead a long and healthy life.
Musser points out that six or seven years ago, many growers weren’t sure what they needed in cannabis lighting. As Fluence developed the relatively untapped LED market, everyone learned together as the industry grew. Now, from a product research and development standpoint, he feels a shift has come with maturity.
Already customer-centered, Musser and team have become even more customer-centric and holistic in their approach. They’re focused on customer standard operating procedures, how growers operate their facility as a whole, and everything products impact from the moment they’re received on the pallet. That includes making products easier and faster to unpack and reducing cardboard packaging to minimize labor and landfill waste. It even extends to what it takes to replace products with the next generation of Fluence lights.
By taking Musser’s treadmill approach to R&D and product development, leading-edge products like RAPTR meet current grower needs and provide a springboard for the future. At Fluence, the product development process doesn’t start and stop. “You don’t say, ‘Okay, we need this new product,’ and then start on that new product,” Musser says. If they did, he says, they’d already be behind.
At Holistic Industries, a passion for research helped fuel a three-facility retrofit to LEDs.
As director of cultivation for Maryland-based Holistic Industries, Nick Denney oversees seven cultivation facilities—soon to be eight—in as many states.
The company’s all-indoor grows range from 15,000 to 30,000 square feet of flowering canopy each and reside in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, D.C., Michigan, Missouri, West Virginia, and soon-to-be New Jersey.
Denney started his career in South Florida. After undergraduate studies in economics and a graduate degree in agronomy, he spent several years in the hydroponic specialty produce industry.
Then cannabis called in 2018. Denney joined Holistic’s Maryland location as assistant cultivation manager. As he advanced to oversee cultivation nationwide, he watched Holistic grow from 40 or so employees to more than 700.
When Denney first started with Holistic, the company used high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting, opting for high-pressure sodium (HPS) for flower and ceramic metal halide (CMH) for veg. Though Denney wasn’t part of the decision-making that chose HPS, he expects it was simply because that was the standard for flowering at the time.
“That’s what people knew, and they knew it worked,” he says. People understood HPS temperature and HVAC requirements, so a certain comfort level was there. In comparison, Denney says LEDs were still considered unproven in cannabis.
Denney’s exposure to LED technology dates back to the first Indoor Ag-Con show in Las Vegas in 2013. He followed horticultural research through the years and watched LED research and development progress.
“But with cannabis, I hadn’t seen any LED lights that were being used, especially for flower. So, it was newer technology. I think people were less sure about it,” Denney says. But he felt it was time for change.
As cannabis photobiology research and LED technology advanced, Denney lobbied to switch existing facilities from HPS. Around the end of 2019, plans were put in motion to retrofit Holistic’s three cultivation facilities in Maryland, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
Increased yields were the main driver behind the push for LEDs. “If we can get more light to the plant up to a certain point, it theoretically should result in higher yields,” Denney says. “What I was seeing in the industry was you could do that with either equal or better quality, all while using less energy per unit of light.”
HPS lighting limited how much light he could get in a room before problems with overheating or morphological issues with plants arose. But with LEDs, he could push that ceiling higher and be more energy-efficient, too.
But retrofits involved more than bulbs for Holistic. “You couldn’t just pull your HPS lights down and plug in LED,” he says. He points to different light counts, different voltages, new electrical plugs and wires required to make the switch. And every facility had different retrofit needs. For example, LED mounting positions meant that fans had to relocate to maintain desired air movement through the canopy.
More changes came later. As yields rose, dehumidification capacity fell short. “As yield goes up, that means biomass is going up, which means you have more water being taken up and released by the plant, which means you have to remove more water,” Denney explains. “We learned quickly and got through the learning curves of new technology.”
Before the retrofits, Denney estimates the three facilities were hitting around 1,000 PPFD in a best-case scenario. He aimed to boost that ceiling by 50% and have available capacity for 1,500 PPFD.
A second goal was to find a vendor that provided the product quality and support he wanted for the company and his growers. “With the quality, we just want to make sure we’re getting what we paid for,” he says. “For the support side, we really like to lean on our vendors to provide that support for their equipment. Because if anyone should know it best, it should be them.”
Denney prefers his growers work directly with vendor support teams, not filter everything through him. Growers become more informed and educated in the products, while building important relationships with the vendor teams.
After researching his options extensively, Holistic settled on Fluence for the retrofits—and all lighting that’s gone into Holistic cultivation facilities since. Part of the draw was Fluence’s approach to research and grower education.
“I’m really attracted to companies that are open and want to educate—and not for something directly in return. They were putting information out to the public with really credible researchers. Good, non-biased information,” he says. “… I was attracted to that because I very much like educating people myself or being on the other end receiving that education.” The added benefit of Fluence’s horticultural services team—dedicated to helping growers succeed—confirmed it was the right fit.
The Holistic and Fluence teams worked closely through the entire triple retrofit, from Denney’s initial contact to the project management and real estate teams who help build and design Holistic facilities. All while, Denney’s cultivation goals stayed foremost in layout and design.
One big lesson learned is that LED gains affect more than yields. Returning to the dehumidification example, Denney explains that more biomass means more water at every step—not just in your grow rooms. If yields double, there’s twice the water to remove in dry rooms. Then you need space to cure the extra flower, staff to trim it, space to package it and store it—all good problems to have.
“We’ve made it work in every facility, thankfully. But I don’t think we initially anticipated the gravity of those changes,” he shares.
With Fluence LEDs running across the board, yields have gone up significantly. Denney now has a new standard for minimum acceptable harvest. And Holistic’s facilities are pushing or exceeding the limit of what he thought was the highest theoretical yield for indoor cannabis just a year or so ago.
Plants are bigger and more vigorous. Better light penetration, reduced density and increased yields mean fewer production cuttings, less plants for the same space in veg, and less transplanting into flower. Temperature, humidity, pruning and maintenance have all changed for the good.
Looking forward, Denney continues to draw on horticulture and controlled-environment agriculture research. As yields continue increasing, he’s focused on quality and end-user experience. “How do we continuously improve that part of the equation as well?” he says.
Wherever the future takes it, Denney says he’s excited to see what’s next.
The CCC voted to approve both measures during its meeting on Aug.11, 2022.
MIAMI, Aug. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE -- Ayr Wellness Inc., a vertically integrated U.S. multi-state cannabis operator, announced that the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC or the Commission) has granted a final license for adult-use cannabis at its Sira Naturals dispensary in Somerville. The company also received approval to open the first phase of its cultivation expansion in Milford, Mass. The CCC voted to approve both measures during its meeting on Aug.11, 2022.
"Ayr continues to make substantial progress in Massachusetts, where we’ve already opened two new adult-use dispensaries this summer, in Boston’s Back Bay and Watertown. Now, with approval to add adult-use to our long-standing Somerville medical dispensary, we anticipate having three adult-use stores in premier locations throughout Greater Boston, once local municipal conditions are met,” said Jonathan Sandelman, founder and CEO of Ayr. “Ayr has made serving as a Force for Good a priority throughout the Massachusetts area, and our team looks forward to furthering this commitment and continuing to enact positive change in Somerville.
“At our Milford cultivation campus, we are using a phased approach to operationalizing our expansion,” he continued. “This approach allows Ayr to support its new adult-use stores with additional high-quality flower options, as well as serving the broader wholesale market with its unique branded offerings.”
Sira Naturals executed a Host Community Agreement (HCA) with the City of Somerville in November 2020, shortly after The company executed two additional HCAs in the Greater Boston area in October 2020 for retail locations in Back Bay and the City of Watertown. The addition of adult-use in Somerville is subject to the simultaneous opening of an Economic Empowerment licensed dispensary in Somerville, per local regulation.
Massachusetts’ legal cannabis market ranks 7th in the nation by total sales, per BDSA, and generated a total $1.6 billion in revenue in 2021. BDSA expects the Massachusetts legal cannabis market to generate $2.3 billion per year by 2026.
The state’s Supreme Court granted a preliminary injunction, allowing Responsible Growth Arkansas’ cannabis measure to appear on November’s ballot.
An adult-use cannabis legalization measure in Arkansas is back on course for the November 2022 ballot—at least for now.
The Arkansas Supreme Court issued a formal order Aug. 10 to grant a preliminary injunction to allow Responsible Growth Arkansas’ constitutional amendment to appear on the statewide ballot this fall.
The formal order directs Secretary of State John Thurston to “conditionally certify petitioners’ proposed initiated amendment pending this court’s decision in this case,” meaning voters will have the opportunity to cast ballots on the amendment in the upcoming election. But the Supreme Court still has the authority to determine whether those votes will hold bearing on the legalization effort.
The Supreme Court’s motion on Wednesday is just the latest of twists and turns that often collide with cannabis advocates hoping to participate in a citizen initiative process. Since submitting petition signatures in July, Responsible Growth Arkansas’ path toward enacting reform has become a roller coaster.
The nuts and bolts of the group’s ballot proposal is to authorize adults 21 and older to legally possess up to 1 ounce of cannabis for personal use and to authorize the cultivation and sale of cannabis by licensed commercial facilities.
Former Arkansas state Rep. Eddie Armstrong III, a Democrat who served as minority leader during his statehouse tenure from 2013-2019, filed the initiative, the Arkansas Adult-Use Cannabis Amendment, in January 2022. He established Responsible Growth Arkansas to support it.
For the past four years, Armstrong has served as the CEO and chairman of Chicago-based Cannabis Capital Group, a medical cannabis consulting, investing and advisory firm.
Armstrong and his campaign organizers submitted more than 190,000 signatures July 8 to the secretary of state’s office for their petition: That’s more than double the roughly 89,000 valid signatures needed (or 10% of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election).
RELATED: Arkansas Voters Likely to Decide Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization in November
Less than a month later, on July 29, the secretary of state’s office announced that the group met the verified signature threshold.
But on Aug. 3, the state Board of Election Commissioners—chaired by Thurston—rejected the measure after they indicated they didn’t believe the ballot title fully explained to voters the impact of the constitutional amendment.
The next day, Responsible Growth Arkansas filed a lawsuit with the state’s Supreme Court to challenge the board’s decision. In that lawsuit, the group asked for a preliminary injunction ordering the measure to appear on the November ballot because “it’s unlikely” that the court will decide the case before the Aug. 25 deadline for the certification of the amendment to appear on the ballot.
The Supreme Court granted that preliminary injunction request on Wednesday, with the formal order establishing a timeline for Thurston, in his official government capacities, to file a response to the complaint by Aug. 16, and for Responsible Growth Arkansas committee members to file a response brief by Aug. 23. Another brief by Thurston’s office is due Aug. 30, and another petitioner reply brief is then due Sept. 2.
That all needs to happen before the Supreme Court justices hear the case to determine if the ballot language meets the requirements for a constitutional amendment.
To date, 19 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized adult-use cannabis, either by ballot initiative or legislation. Advocacy group NORML has generally been in support of those reforms.
However, Arkansas NORML Treasurer Melissa Fults opposes the Responsible Growth Arkansas 2022 initiative, ABC-affiliate KAIT reported in last month.
“Their [amendment] is horrible,” said Fults, whose group is collecting signatures for a 2024 ballot proposal.
Specifically, Fults took issue with Responsible Growth Arkansas’ amendment not including a provision for home cultivation.
“When you control the industry, you can set the prices to whatever you want to and make people pay it,” she told the news outlet. “It would also destroy the medical industry we worked so hard to build.”
Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is term-limited and can’t seek reelection this November, has also been a vocal opponent to the adult-use cannabis legalization campaign.
Meanwhile, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Jones, who is facing former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in this November’s race, issued a statement expressing firm support for adult-use cannabis legalization in the state.
“My stance on cannabis? Same as it has been—legalize and decriminalize it,” Jones said in a social media post last week. “Arkansans have a right to the ballot initiative process and should be able to have a say in whether or not recreational marijuana is approved in this state. The ballot initiative process is one of the few ways Arkansans get to have a seat at the table.”
The territory’s medical cannabis market is expected to launch in 2023.
The U.S. Virgin Islands is one step closer to launching its medical cannabis market after regulators approved draft rules for the program Aug. 10.
The V.I. Cannabis Advisory Board (VICAB) approved the final draft regulations at its virtual meeting Wednesday in a unanimous vote, according to the St. Thomas Source.
The rules will be posted on the Office of Cannabis Regulations’ website Aug. 12, launching a 30-day public comment period that will close on Sept. 11, the news outlet reported. A town hall meeting is scheduled for Aug. 31 to help gather public input.
RELATED: U.S. Virgin Islands Officials Working Toward Approval of Medical Cannabis Regulations
The U.S. Virgin Islands legalized medical cannabis in 2014 through a voter-approved referendum, and the Legislature passed the Medical Cannabis Patient Care Act in 2018 to implement the program. Gov. Albert Bryan signed the legislation into law in 2019, and the VICAB held its first meeting in January 2020.
The medical cannabis regulations were supposed to be in place within 120 days of the Medical Cannabis Patient Care Act being signed into law, but efforts to get the program up and running were delayed as the advisory board was formed and an executive director was appointed, the St. Thomas Source reported. Hannah Carty accepted the executive director role in September 2021, jumpstarting the program.
The VICAB also unanimously approved the Office of Cannabis Regulations’ three-year plan at Wednesday’s meeting, according to the St. Thomas Source. Applications for cultivation licenses will be available starting Oct. 3, the news outlet reported, followed by research and development licenses Oct. 26, manufacturing licenses Dec. 5 and dispensary licenses Dec. 27.
Regulators will release a request for proposals for laboratory facilities Oct. 12, the St. Thomas Source reported, and they will begin accepting physician registrations Nov. 3, followed by patient applications Dec. 14.
The applications for each license type will remain open a month from their start date, according to the news outlet, and once each application window closes, the Office of Cannabis Regulation will select a review committee to score the applications.
Once the applications have been scored, regulators will publish a list of qualified applicants whose scores exceed 80%, the St. Thomas Source reported, and a lottery will select the final license winners.
The district of St. Thomas/St. John will license up to eight level one cultivators in St. Thomas and four in St. John, according to the news outlet, and the St. Croix district will license up to 12 level one cultivators.
“The exact number of licenses to be released on an annual basis will be determined by the Cannabis Advisory Board,” Carty told the St. Thomas Source in March. “They shall not release licenses that supersede the amounts allowed by 19 V.I. Code; Chapter 34.”
Carty added that the VICAB has the authority to increase or decrease the number of licenses as demand becomes clearer over the course of the next two to three years.
The U.S. Virgin Islands’ medical cannabis market is expected to launch in March or April 2023.
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