Fluence Bioengineering today announced that Shenandoah Growers, the largest retail grower of organic herbs in the United States, has deployed thousands of Fluence LED solutions in its state-of-the-art vertical farm and greenhouse facilities. With the new Fluence lighting solutions, Shenandoah Growers has boosted crop yields and quality while reducing land, water and fertilizer resources.

Illuminex, Inc., a business in Denver, CO, is proud to announce that they are now an official distributor of the Mars Hydro LED Grow Lights. These lights are the top rated grow light manufacturers for the hydroponics industry. The grow lights have been proven to be very popular.

Hydroponic farming and other vertical farming technologies are viewed by some as the solution to solving the world’s food security issues, and preventing potential food shortages caused by an overpopulated planet. But is indoor farming really as environmental friendly as thought? Is a question recently raised by Washington Post food columnist Tamar Haspel.

BIOS Lighting, developers of world-class LED lighting solutions, will showcase its newest BIOS Icarus™ Vi low-profile LED fixture in Booth # 68 at the Cannabis Business Summit & Expo, June 20-22.  With a vertical dimension of only 1.5”, BIOS low profile fixtures can be mounted within 3’ or 4’ racking systems to deliver more uniform PAR levels over wide areas and multiple layers of production, maximizing a facility’s volumetric crop yield per cubic foot.

Philips Lighting, announced a new contract with French premium tomato grower, Le Jardin de Rabelais. In conjunction with horticulture partner, Certhon, Philips Lighting will supply LED horticultural lighting and services to the French grower to help it to increase the yield and taste of its speciality tomato crop for supermarkets in France.

Philips Lighting, a Royal Philips company and global leader in lighting, has collaborated with The University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC) to test energy efficient ways to grow food that will help feed astronauts on missions to the moon, Mars and beyond. A recent study, conducted over a nine week period, found that replacing water-cooled high-pressure sodium (HPS) systems with energy efficient LED lighting from Philips in a prototype lunar greenhouse resulted in an increased amount of high-quality, edible lettuce while dramatically improving operational efficiency and use of resources.

Heliospectra AB (publ) (OTCQB: HLSPY, FIRSTNORTH: HELIO), a world leader in intelligent lighting technology for controlled environments horticulture, is excited to announce their newest Canadian client, Canada’s Island Garden. The order, valued at around $80,000 USD, is an important victory for Heliospectra in the Canadian market.

Heliospectra, a world leader in intelligent lighting technology for crop cultivation and plant research, announced an order valued at just over US $265,000 for the Heliospectra LX601C cannabis-focused LED light hardware and software system.

LED trailblazer Lighting Science® is pleased to debut theVividGroTM line, another innovative series of commercial LED lighting solutions from the industry leader. Tailored to the agricultural and horticultural markets, this state-of-the-art product line distinguishes itself from its industry peers due to its use of spectrally-optimized photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) delivery, which has been proven to support increased plant growth, development and yield. VividGro is suitable for both commercial growers and do-it-yourself horticulturalists and is assured to be a game changer in emerging markets, such as the burgeoning pharmaceutical marijuana industry. These commercial LED solutions are highly adaptable to both urban and agricultural environments, including greenhouses of any scale.

Flip Chip Opto releases a first-in-class 2400 watt high powered horticultural flip chip COB. The 2400 watt flip chip COB is part of their new Duet series geared towards the grow light industry. The Duet 2400 is based on the company’s 3-PAD Pillar Metal Core Printed Circuit Board technology. This technology allows a breakthrough in high powered horticultural flip chip LEDs, reducing junction temperatures to 0.003˚C/W on Duet 2400 at a maximum power of 2433 watts.

One of the most triumphant moments in the book and recent movie The Martian comes when lead character, Mark Watney, successfully grows a potato crop on Mars. It’s more than food for survival; he’s also nourishing his spirit.  In space, there is no scent of baking bread, no wind on your face, no sound of raindrops hitting the roof, no favorite kitten to curl up in your lap. Over time, being deprived of these common earthbound sense stimulations takes a toll. Having limited access to stimuli to the senses is identified as a significant risk by NASA’sBehavioral Health and Performance team.

Colorado State University and Philips Lighting have forged a long-term collaborative partnership by signing an agreement to create a state-of-the-art LED-lighted education, research and training horticulture facility at CSU.

Heliospectra, a world leader in intelligent lighting technology for plant research and greenhouse cultivation, is pleased to announce that the Company has been awarded a research grant from Vinnova, the Swedish innovation agency, for an innovation project entitled “LED Lighting to Enhance the Quality of Plants”.

As LED applications gradually shift towards biology, medical, and health related market sectors, LED grow light applications large market potential has been recognized by the industry, according to a report from CALI. Chinese and international companies have entered the LED grow light market, with traditional lighting manufacturers Philips, Mitsubishi Chemicals, Seoul Semiconductor, Everlight, and Showa Denko all contending for market shares. The LED grow light industry is still mainly led by large multinational companies that have sufficient financing, advanced technology, and strong awareness of market deployment strategies.

To satisfy increasing consumer demand for locally grown, fresh tomatoes during off-seasons, greenhouse tomato growers often need to rely on supplemental lighting. Tomato growers are looking to light-emitting diodes (LEDs), favored for their energy-saving potential, as an alternative to high-pressure sodium lamps (HPS) in greenhouse operations. A recent study offers new information about the feasibility of using LEDs in greenhouse tomato operations.

Royal Philips , the global leader in lighting, is helping rose growers increase yields and improve the quality of the most romantic, yet light-intensive flower in the world. Philips GreenPower toplighting LED solution brings more light for the same amount of energy, optimized light spectrum and a significant reduction in radiated heat. Today, Philips announces that three major cut rose producers from Belgium and The Netherlands have installed GreenPower toplighting and are using Philips’ light recipes to obtain significant improvements.

TP Halo and Thailand’s Provincial Energy Agency are collaborating on launching new LED T8 tube lights in Thailand, said representatives interviewed at EcolightTech Asia 2015, which ran from Nov. 19-21, 2015 at Queen Sirikit Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand.

Ever fancy to eat healthier? Try picturing this. Having a fresh bowl of veggies harvested from your back yard or sprinkle home grown herbs onto your hand- made pasta for a laid back Saturday dinner. Does any of these sound attractive to you? A company called Grove did their research and produce a self-sufficient ecosystem that uses aquaponics to grow veggies indoors. Grove is a company that strive to provide sustainable products to its customers. This company started a Kickstarter campaign for their Ecosystem, targeting at US $100,000 and has successfully raised 217,509 so far.

LumiGrow Research, the research division of horticultural LED lighting manufacturer LumiGrow released seven new scientific posters that reveal how crop morphology and productivity can be affected through the application of varied light spectra. LumiGrow research, conducted in partnership with commercial growers and universities, demonstrates breakthrough capabilities that adjustable-spectrum LED lighting now provides growers.

Japanese company Spread plans to construct a large fully automated vegetable factory capable of producing 30,000 heads of lettuce per day, according to a recent company statement.

Stranded on the barren red planet Mars with few supplies available, astronaut Mark Watney played by Hollywood actor Matt Damon in The Martian is fighting for survival on the harsh planet.

Illumitex, green tech developer and manufacturer of LED grow light technology, announced initial steps in what is expected to be a long-term partnership with Singapore’s largest vertical farm, Sustenir Agriculture. Sustenir is an innovative indoor farming endeavor that brings much-needed local, fresh produce to the island country in Southeast Asia.

Illumitex Inc., LED innovator and maker of the world’s most optically advanced lighting products for horticulture, today announced it has signed a new customer, Green Life Productions (GLP). Based in Nevada, GLP is a pioneer in the organic cannabis cultivation industry. Illumitex’s highly sophisticated lighting technology will enable Green Life Productions to accelerate and maximize sustainable cannabis growth; producing a large yield while using less energy without the use of harmful chemicals.

Heliospectra, a world leader in intelligent lighting technology for plant research and greenhouse cultivation, has had its European patent application approved by the European Patent Office. This marks the seventh region to approve the Company’s core patent, as Europe joins the U.S., Russia, China, Canada, Japan, and Hong Kong.

Illumitex, maker of technologically advanced LED grow lights, today announced an initiative to help innovative indoor growers to secure a portion of a $50M grant fund available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Illumitex and The Pennsylvania State University are pleased to announce an educational partnership that has resulted in more than 400 Illumitex Eclipse ES2 LED grow lights being put into service in multiple greenhouses operated by the storied university's College of Agricultural Sciences.

Fresh food grown in the microgravity environment of space officially is on the menu for the first time for NASA astronauts on the International Space Station. Expedition 44 crew members, including NASA's one-year astronaut Scott Kelly, are ready to sample the fruits of their labor after harvesting a crop of "Outredgeous" red romaine lettuce Monday, Aug. 10, from the Veggie plant growth system on the nation’s orbiting laboratory.

Growing vegetables in greenhouses extends crop production seasons in northern latitudes, but the greenhouse environment is far from ideal for providing plants with optimal photosynthetic light. In fact, available photosynthetic daily light in greenhouses can be reduced by up to 50% or more by the structures' glazing material, superstructure, and shading. In northern latitudes, low light is considered the most limiting environmental factor in greenhouse vegetable production.

Heliospectra AB a lighting manufacturer for plant research and greenhouse cultivation, and American Cannabis Company, a full-service cannabis industry consultant and provider of proprietary and preferred products, have successfully sold one of the largest LED cultivation installations in the world to a Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. cannabis licensee. 

A Purdue University study shows that targeting plants with red and blue LEDs provides energy-efficient lighting in contained environments, a finding that could advance the development of crop-growth modules for space exploration.