Sustainable farming practises using digital technologies are important not only to reduce carbon footprints for both businesses and customers but also to ensure global food security. In fact, the global food system accounts for about a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, consumes the majority of all fresh water, and is the leading cause of deforestation so any efficiencies that can be achieved with the use of digitally transformative technologies can unlock significant benefits. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, by 2050 world population will reach 9.1 billion and food production will need to increase by around 70% between 2005/7 and 2050, particularly in developing countries where it will almost have to double.
There are multiple techniques that can be used to achieve more sustainable farming and one of them is indoor farming. Indoor farms use less energy, water, and land than traditional farming methods and may become a big part of our future food production system. Right now, the demand for indoor farming is booming, and since it involves the use of grow lights the demand for these is increasing as well. Grow lights are a specialised type of lighting used in indoor farming to support plant growth. How? They provide specific light spectrum and intensity for plants, so helping them in photosynthesis, particularly for indoor environments lacking natural sunlight.
This blog focuses on the usage of connected grow lights in indoor farming and explores how connectivity plays a critical role in growth monitoring and the emerging business opportunities arising therefrom. If you wish to read our building lighting report in detail, please click here: Building Lighting: 2.5 billion devices in 2034 supporting sustainable energy usage.
Grow lights are optimised LEDs equipped with relevant colour spectrum and sensing technologies. These lights can either supplement luminaires that emit natural daylight or replace them entirely while radiating less heat than conventional lights and are being used for growth stimulations and precise condition monitoring. Grow lights are mostly used in a controlled farming environment since they provide optimal lighting conditions in the context of ambient temperature, humidity, and soil moisture that is remotely monitored and dynamically optimised. The use of these lights can increase the quality of food and yields. It also reduces environmental impacts related to land, water, pesticide use and the distance food travels to reach the consumers’ plate.
Connectivity plays an important role in the use of grow lights, as plants have a varied light requirements depending on their species, growth stages, and ambient environment. For instance, crops like cucumber require higher light levels; a head of lettuce needs about 14 hours of light per day, whereas a basil plant needs 20 hours of light per day. Lighting requirements (including intensity, duration, and quality) and weather conditions also vary based on the geographical location of the user, particularly if grow lights are used to supplement available natural light. In case of vertical farming or indoor horticulture, indoor lights can be adjusted based on the crops’ requirement. These lights can be equipped with different types of sensors (such as soil moisture sensors to measure the moisture content in the surroundings and sensors to monitor spectrum and light intensity) that capture plant-related data and transfer it to the cloud for processing. Such arrangements are not only useful for capturing data but also for real-time growth stimulation and precise condition monitoring. The sensors can be connected to a climate control or greenhouse management system and remotely monitored to simplify operations for vertical farming and optimise yield.
Building lighting vendors such as Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting) and Acuity Brands Lighting now provide multiple lighting solutions that are suitable for indoor farming. Both lighting vendors have focused on both organic and inorganic growth opportunities to expand their lighting business. These include partnership with farming and agriculture companies; for instance, Signify expanded its partnership with Agro-Inwest in Russia from 25 hectares of tomato greenhouses to 68.5 hectares by deploying Philips GreenPower LED lighting solution for tomato production. In addition, several inorganic growth opportunities, such as Signify's acquisition of Fluence (the horticultural lighting division of Osram) for USD272 million, have helped the company expand its agricultural lighting business unit. Overall, in 2024 Signify witnessed a significant increase in revenue from its horticulture lighting business, especially small and medium-sized vertical farms. Meanwhile, in January 2024, Acuity Brands Lighting completed the acquisition of Arize horticulture lighting products from Current Lighting Solutions. After the acquisition, Acuity Brands Lighting collaborated with Hort Americas, a horticulture product supplier.
Not all LED-based horticultural lighting solutions are the same and farmers have multiple options to evaluate when selecting a product. Different plants respond to specific light spectra, which can affect growth rate, flowering, and leaf coloration. It is necessary for the farmers to ensure that lights must work seamlessly with any existing HVAC, shading, and irrigation systems to maintain balanced temperature, humidity levels, and more. Any changes to grow lights also need to be considered in the context of other non-lighting solutions to ensure that the growth environment is optimal for the crops in question. Additionally, for greenhouse growers in particular, managing external light pollution is crucial for community relations and environmental compliance.
Vertical farming enabled by sophisticated lighting solutions is a promising approach to help feed a growing world population using little water and land area. Through vertical farming fresh and nutritious food can be grown locally for people, even in urban areas. The use of IoT in vertical farming is significantly beneficial so that technology can be used to optimise lighting, fertilisation, irrigation and climate control to achieve better yields. The results are effectively a modern multi-level digitised greenhouse that can be a very efficient way to produce food if key technologies like lighting, and control
and monitoring are deployed.
