Solar Therapeutics Drives Sustainability Efforts With Fluence LEDs
Fluence by OSRAM, a global provider of energy-efficient LED lighting solutions for commercial cannabis and food production, and Solar Therapeutics, America’s only energy-independent cannabis dispensary, announced that the companies’ collaborative LED implementation yielded more than $1 million in total rebates from National Grid, Solar’s local utility provider.
Located in Somerset, Massachusetts, Solar operates a 67,000-square-foot cultivation facility and dispensary supplying medical and recreational cannabis products. Led by chief executive officer Edward Dow, Solar is the only cannabis cultivator using green infrastructure and microgrid assets in the United States. Solar’s unique facility design lowers its energy profile by 40% and its microgrid assets reduce remaining emissions by nearly 60%. Solar’s microgrid generates approximately five megawatts of electricity — enough to power a small town — and its production architecture enables the facility to supply marijuana flower and marijuana-infused products throughout the entire state of Massachusetts. Dow has proven he can achieve even greater efficiencies through the company’s partnership with Fluence.
“The lack of unified sustainability practices and principles within the cannabis industry have created some major efficiency pain points that we all need to seriously consider,” Dow said. “By leveraging Fluence’s LED technology, we were able to downsize our HVAC systems and invest the resulting savings into technologies that would allow us to achieve our long-term, sustainable facility design goals. Our partnership with Fluence has enabled us to bring this vision to reality and we can now redefine what it will take for the industry as a whole to become truly resource-efficient.”
“The industry and our customers have spoken: Broad-spectrum LEDs are the preferred solution to achieve critical cost efficiencies and cultivation goals,” said David Cohen, CEO of Fluence. “Cultivators who are implementing LED lighting solutions are optimizing energy costs, growing the most consistent plants and achieving unbeatable crop yields. Industry leaders like Solar Therapeutics are setting a new gold standard for sustainable cultivation practices, ensuring the cannabis industry thrives into the future.”
Dow added that the movement for cannabis growers to adopt and benefit from sustainable, advanced cultivation solutions requires the comprehensive integration of a facility’s complex indoor systems. In conjunction with Fluence, Solar also employs urban-gro, Inc.’s experts in facility design and engineering to optimize the operation’s fertigation and watering systems.
“urban-gro is proud to support Solar Therapeutics in their vision and commitment to resource efficiency,” said Brad Nattrass, CEO of urban-gro. “Solar’s success in managing energy costs and consumption is a testament to the advantage that expert engineering design and equipment integration can have on facility operations. By focusing on the efficient interaction between plants, people and processes, Solar is effectively able to operate a consistently high-performing cultivation facility. We are pleased to work with our trusted industry partner, Fluence. The long-standing relationship between our companies has resulted in the design and start-up of some of the most advanced cultivation facilities across North America.”
Through its partnerships with Fluence and urban-gro, Solar has secured more than $1 million in rebates from its local utility provider and was the first facility of its kind to secure an LED rebate with National Grid. The rebates will ultimately cover costs for the implementation and use of automatic lighting controls, new HVAC equipment and boilers, and free fluid chillers.
For more information on Solar, visit www.solarthera.com. For more information on Fluence and its rebate coordination services, visit www.fluence.science.
