I have been hearing a lot about how solar power can help the energy hungry marijuana growers market. And this market does use a lot of electricity to power everything from artificial lighting to fans, dehumidifiers, water pumps and many more grow elements at all hours of the day or night. This appears to be a prime market for Solar Power.
Solar Power advocates have been preaching the benefits of Solar Power to most industries for a long time. But now there focus seems to be on Marijuana Growers. Maybe because it appears to be fertile ground for more Solar sales or maybe because it could just be a good fit for this growing industry.
Well let’s examine the facts. Medical marijuana is legal in 30 states/districts while recreational use is presently legalized in nine: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Washington, D.C. And it’s inevitable that more states will legalize medical and recreational marijuana in the next few years. I think the math stated above is enough to say that there is a huge opportunity here for Solar.
Whether the grow is outside or inside there is a substantial amount of electricity used. Of course much more inside than outside grows. And the cannabis industry is still very hesitant of using LED’s for their artificial lighting and prefer to use high voltage HPS lighting that give off a lot of heat and use much electricity.
The ubiquities of Solar and Cannabis can only be explained by the early marijuana growers who needed to offset their electrical load to stay out of the prying eyes of the government. And in effort to create the best possible product it is necessary to do this inside where one can control all aspects of the operation and produce a premium product.
Although there are risks and inconsistencies associated with this emerging industry, there can be a home for solar. Many describe the legal cannabis industry as the “Wild West” right now, and it wasn’t too long ago that the solar industry was called the same. Who better to guide the legal cannabis industry into energy efficiency than its partner-in-crime since the beginning?
