Greenhouse Supplemental Lighting Should Make S.E.N.S.E. To Growers

We’re pleased to share that the upcoming edition of Horti-Gen Insights will feature Sollum Technologies, a prominent company in the controlled environment agriculture sector known for its fully dynamic LED lighting solutions designed to support crop growth, quality, and energy efficiency.

This edition also highlights the work of Abhay Thosar, Chief Horticultural Specialist at Sollum Technologies. With more than 22 years of experience in horticulture—including 10 years in greenhouse operations and 12 years focused on implementing horticultural LEDs across various crops—Abhay offers a unique blend of scientific knowledge and practical insight.

His approach bridges advanced research with field-level application, offering a perspective on how innovation in lighting is contributing to more adaptive and efficient greenhouse production systems.

Supplemental lighting choices once revolved around micromoles per joule and purchase price. In 2025, however, tomato viruses, shifting consumer tastes, and volatile electricity markets force growers to ask a more challenging question: Does my lighting strategy make business sense?

Below, we walk through a five-point audit of the most adaptable lighting system available - dynamic LED lighting. A modern greenhouse system must be Scalable, Energy-Smart, offer Next-level management, be Simple to use, and enhance crop performance.

S – Scalability

Indoor agriculture growers need to be able to adapt to market demands. To do so, you need to be able to switch crops at any time without incurring costly overhauls. For example, many growers recently experienced the impact of ToBRFV in tomatoes and had to quickly pivot to growing cucumbers, peppers, or strawberries within their existing greenhouse infrastructure. Using the same supplemental lighting with a new crop is a significant compromise, as light is the primary driver of plant biological processes and photosynthesis, especially during the winter months. In this context, imagine a scenario in which the lighting was dynamic, meaning that you could adjust its spectrum. This would make it easy to switch from tomatoes to cucumbers by providing the optimal conditions for the new crop, leading to optimal productivity.

Case in point: when ToBRFV hit an Ontario facility, it switched to growing cucumbers in a section of its greenhouse with dynamic lighting and recorded harvests
3 to 4 days earlier than in the section with static LED lighting.

E – Energy-smart savings

Growers have no control over energy pricing and must rely on the provider's mercy. You can, however, reduce energy costs and achieve a rapid ROI thanks to the flexibility of targeted spectrums and real-time adjustments provided by Sollum’s dynamic LED lighting. The AI in our dynamic system will maintain consistent lighting by managing automatic dimming in real-time and optimizing the spectrum based on ambient light readings. You can feed crop-specific values in the system and manage energy Consumption during peak electricity rates to reduce costs. How? Sollum’s SUNaaS® cloud platform monitors real-time consumption, daily light integral (DLI) targets and weather forecasts to dim or boost output – minute by minute.

Does it work? Ontario’s Red Sun Farms cut lighting energy by 26 % annually—peaking at 44 % in May—while mini-cucumber yield rose by 16.7 %.

We can help with incentives: Many programs reward dynamic LED fixtures, sometimes offsetting up to 100 % of equipment cost. Our team is well-versed in these programs and can assist with your application.

N - Next level management

Gone are the days when growers had to rush to their climate computer to make necessary adjustments during the day or manually turn their supplemental lighting on and off. Sollum’s dynamic lighting system exchanges data with leading systems, such as Damatex, keeping VPD targets, venting, and lighting perfectly in sync through predictive adjustments. By seamlessly integrating lighting with your greenhouse’s existing climate computer, you can manage crop growth parameters alongside the lighting to optimize plant response.

This AI-based functionality streamlines daily operations by utilizing data-driven insights to optimize crop growth, quality, and productivity. The AI will also provide weather forecasts and adjust the DLI to meet the crop's specific requirements. Supplemental lighting can be tailored not only to meet a crop’s needs throughout the day, but also to accommodate its needs over the entire growth cycle and at various times of the year.

Integration works! A grower of ornamental plants in Québec saw a 15% reduction in tip burn incidents and an 11% increase in gerbera stem length.

Simple and user-friendly software

SUN as a Service^® (SUNaaS^®) is the user-friendly software developed by Sollum engineers to meet the needs of all growers. Through our intuitive, cloud-based platform, you gain instant, flexible control of your greenhouse lighting – no IT degree required. The dashboard helps you align and monitor lighting strategies, as well as manage energy consumption, on a daily basis throughout the year. You can also change the spectrum and create your very own light recipes and save them – all in just a few clicks. This allows you to preset your spectrum-tunable LEDs and photoperiods for future use in minutes.

Finally, the unlimited zoning capabilities of SUNaaS^® enable you to apply these recipes in distinct areas in your greenhouse. In a nutshell, this ultimate zone control means multiple spectra can run in the same bay - in one row, a section, or an entire bay - without rewiring anything.

E - Enhance crop performance

With the flexibility to provide the correct spectrum and optimal intensity for the crop, growers can now focus on enhancing the crop’s performance. Improving the light-use efficiency of crops will increase production per square meter and your bottom line. The market is dynamic, and on demand, you now have the tool of dynamic LED lighting to achieve your objectives in terms of product quality or color. In many instances, lighting strategies also shorten the cycle, improve quality, and reduce the use of PGR in ornamental production.

For detailed performance data on dynamic LED greenhouse lighting, visit https://www.sollumtechnologies.com/en/case-studies

*Results may vary based on crop, environment, and usage conditions.

Abhay Thosar’s Insights: Elevating Grower Success with Sollum Technologies

According to Abhay Thosar, Chief Horticultural Specialist at Sollum Technologies, the company’s approach to agronomic support truly sets it apart in the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry. “We provide unparalleled support to growers,” he shares. Sollum’s Customer Success team is staffed with experts who not only have deep technical knowledge but also extensive first-hand experience with a variety of CEA crops. This team ensures growers receive comprehensive support from the very start—delivering tailored training, monitoring crops directly in the greenhouse, and staying engaged as growers navigate changing operations and new crops.

Crucially, Sollum’s approach integrates agronomic guidance with technical support, treating lighting not as a stand-alone product, but as one vital component of a holistic solution. By collecting ongoing feedback and sharing practical knowledge across their network, Sollum helps customers continually refine their processes and maximize success.

Looking to the future, Abhay points out that dynamic LED lighting with adjustable spectrum is fast becoming the standard in horticultural operations. Sollum’s innovation in this space is exemplified by its early adoption of artificial intelligence in the SUNaaS® platform, enabling growers to create and adjust light “recipes” tailored to maximize specific crop traits and quality. “AI will play an important role in implementing this level of precision, and Sollum’s fixtures and SUNaaS® can already provide it,” he says.

Conclusion

Through Abhay’s expertise and leadership, Sollum Technologies is not only supporting growers every step of the way but is also pioneering the AI-driven, precision lighting solutions that will define the future of CEA. Their commitment ensures growers don’t just keep up—they stay ahead.

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