
Tag: LED Grow Lights
GE Current changes name, strengthens scale of production, distribution with acquisition

Current is prioritizing investing in technology to continue to develop its LED horticultural light fixtures in-house.
GE Current, a Daintree company, shortens name to Current and acquires Hubbell Lighting to increase range of products and distribution capacity.
GE Current, a Daintree company, has changed its brand name to Current. The company has also acquired Hubbell’s Commercial & Industrial Lighting.
“These are two iconic brands coming together and creating value with their synergy,” said Bruno D’Amico, global product manager-horticulture at Current. “The acquisition drove the Current name change. The Hubbell and Current products, including Arize horticultural lighting, will be sold under the Current brand name.
“The Hubbell acquisition expands our existing scale in the global supply chain by giving us access to additional resources it brings to the table. How customers purchase our products and how we service our customers won’t change. We will still be working with distributors like Hort Americas, to service our customers.”
D’Amico said the horticulture industry is currently going through a transition from high pressure sodium to LED technology.
“Everyone is excited about the potential for the horticulture industry and the benefits that LED lighting can play in advancing the industry,” he said. “We are currently manufacturing most of our horticultural lighting fixtures in Hendersonville, N.C. The acquisition of Hubbell will help us to navigate the supply chain challenges we are all facing post-COVID.”

Opportunities to scale up product offerings
D’Amico said Current is increasing the resources it is putting into horticultural lighting.
“Current is looking to strengthen its Arize product line to better serve growers not only in North America, but also worldwide,” he said. “There has been a huge increase in demand for our lighting solutions globally. We are actively running several new product introductions in order to keep pace with demand.
“Behind every great product is a solid engineering team. We are currently prioritizing investing on the technology side to continue to develop these fixtures in-house. Current prides itself on our engineers designing all parts of our fixtures in-house. That is really important for us and that has helped along the way not only in horticulture, but also in the other markets we serve.”
D’Amico said the Current name change brings with it a different look and feel to the Arize product line.
“Even with this change, our focus and our mission is still the customer,” he said. “We are focused on coming to market with the right products to empower our customers to make the right technology choices when it comes to lights. This will ensure that we put our customers in a better position than they were before. We’re investing heavily, but what is really driving this is we are still seeing a strong demand from growers asking us for help to solve some of their challenges.”
Making commitment, investment in U.S. production
Chris Higgins, president at Hort Americas, said the most important factor to Hort Americas and its customers in Current’s name change and acquisition of Hubbell was its continued commitment to its North Carolina lighting manufacturing facility.
“We have some very important partners that are relatively close to Current’s Hendersonville, N.C., plant,” Higgins said. “Hort Americas continues to invest in partners including growers who are in that area or other areas of Appalachia, including North Carolina State University, AppHarvest, Soli and Costa Farms. We are not only supplying products that are made in this region of the country to growers in this region, we are also committed to working with schools like N.C. State to learn what it takes to build products and offer services that will make these growers more successful.

“Hort Americas wants to work with vendors that are going to invest in the areas where our grower customers are located. It was important for Hort Americas that Current continues to invest in the communities that support them.”
Higgins said Hort Americas’ customer base is growing quickly to other parts of the country, including Canada.
“This is where scale becomes very important,” he said. “Being in the United States has given us the ability to better service clients in many parts of the country as well as into Canada.
“We couldn’t be in the United States without the access to scale. We have been able to service our clients in a timely and efficient manner with predictability and reliability that has been crucial especially during construction projects.”
For more: Hort Americas, (469) 532-2383; https://hortamericas.com/.
Want to know more about LED grow lights?
If you weren’t able to attend Cultivate’22, be sure to catch the Horticulture Lighting and Learning Event with Hort Americas. Scheduled for Aug. 11, 2022, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at Current’s light manufacturing plant in Hendersonville, N.C. During this event you’ll have the opportunity to discover the latest science driving the future of horticulture lighting.
Free Download: Key Aspects about the Use and Management of LED Lighting in Crop Production

As LED grow lights continue to become more affordable, an increasing number of greenhouse growers and vertical farmers are considering whether the lights would benefit their production systems. Several studies and growers applications have demonstrated the development of new lighting technologies such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can increase the capability to provide ideal light conditions to crops, making possible the improvement of crop performance and product quality.
Continue reading Free Download: Key Aspects about the Use and Management of LED Lighting in Crop ProductionPhotons and Yield

Light incidence over our crops will have a direct effect on yield. Photosynthesis is the most important process in plants to produce energy. But how can we relate photons of light to yield? Based on research we know now one mole of photosynthetic photons is required in order to produce one gram o dried biomass (yield).
Continue reading Photons and YieldHort Americas and its partners focus on community food production, people and jobs

Partnerships created the project AppLit resulting in the manufacturing of LED grow lights in the United States that will be used to grow greenhouse vegetables in the Appalachian region.
Continue reading Hort Americas and its partners focus on community food production, people and jobsHow can you make LED grow lights more affordable?

Geographic location is a major driver in who qualifies for a utility rebate and how many rebate dollars are available for specific projects. Photo courtesy of Hort Americas
Hort Americas is working with Current to ensure their customers receive the maximum utility rebates for their LED grow light purchases.
Continue reading How can you make LED grow lights more affordable?Looking to up your controlled environment light intensity?

The majority of the Arize Factor LED grow lights being manufactured at Current’s North Carolina plant are expected to be used for vertical farming. Photos courtesy of GE Current, a Daintree company
Continue reading Looking to up your controlled environment light intensity?How to calculate the light a crop is receiving in the greenhouse

Light Conversions in the Greenhouse
When working inside a growing system such as a greenhouse or a plant factory system we must have enough knowledge about light management. When we understand light we can make smart decisions to promote the best environmental conditions to promote growth, development and yield in our crops.
Continue reading How to calculate the light a crop is receiving in the greenhouseFree Download: The Guide for Growing Tomatoes


Greenhouse production of hydroponic tomatoes is increasing worldwide every year. The reason? All the advantages provided by these growing systems! The principal advantages of hydroponic controlled environment agriculture (CEA) include high-density maximum crop yield, year-round production, more efficient use of water and fertilizers, consistent crop quality, minimal use of land area, and suitability for mechanization, disease and pest control.
Continue reading Free Download: The Guide for Growing TomatoesWageningen University publishes energy usage research

We invite you to read the following study conducted by Wageningen University, one of the most complete we have seen over the years for energy usage.
Continue reading Wageningen University publishes energy usage researchWhat do you need to know before purchasing a lamp for horticultural lighting?

Lamp selection when speaking about plant production in the horticulture or floriculture field is a very important decision. Lamps can be a good investment when we ask ourselves the correct questions. When working with artificial lighting we first need to analyze the requirements of our growing system and our crop.
Continue reading What do you need to know before purchasing a lamp for horticultural lighting?GE Current whitepaper on cannabis yields improved by LED grow lights
Small Test, Big Results: LED Grow Lights Help Bloom Show-Stopping Plants

Originally published by GE Current, a Daintree Company
Dominik Neisser has horticulture in his blood. His parents had a greenhouse in Germany while he was growing up and maintain it to this day, laying the foundation for a life spent studying and growing plants across the world. “This is how I was born and raised,” Neisser said. “I was always with plants and got to know the business around it, so I decided to join that branch and go into horticulture.”
Continue reading Small Test, Big Results: LED Grow Lights Help Bloom Show-Stopping PlantsMaximizing Cannabis Yields with Dr Bruce Bugbee
How to Build a Reliable Horticulture LED Fixture

Authored by Robert Spivock, Director of Technology, GE Current, a Daintree company
In our last GE Current article, we talked about reliability as the concept of building a quality product to last over time. The next step is to look at how to build reliable LED fixtures.
Continue reading How to Build a Reliable Horticulture LED FixtureBreaking boundaries with indoor locally-grown hops

By Deidre Hughes
When you think of hydroponically grown crops, hops may not be the first thing that comes to mind. But innovators Corey and Laura Rickman have a dream, and Hort Americas is helping them along the way. With the craft beer industry growing all over the country there is a demand for wet hops in beer production. However, traditionally hops have been grown outdoors in the North Pacific region. Wet hops or fresh hops have a very short shelf life, and they need to be shipped overnight to make it to breweries across the US. This can be quite expensive. The Rickman’s started thinking, what if they could be the supplier to the numerous breweries that are local to the Dallas/ Fort Worth area? What if they could have multiple harvests a year by controlling the environment? That idea started Dallas HopWorks.
Continue reading Breaking boundaries with indoor locally-grown hopsChanging the Definition of LED Reliability in Horticulture

Photo: The Accelerated Product Life Test Labs at Current
Authored by Robert Spivock, Director of Technology, GE Current, a Daintree company
Continue reading Changing the Definition of LED Reliability in HorticultureMastering Light Management: Optimizing Crop Performance

All crops have specific light requirements. By knowing minimum and optimum levels of light for our crop we can manage our environment to improve crop performance. When the ambient light exposure is below the minimum requirements we need to apply supplemental lighting in order to maintain our crop production at a healthy and consistent pace.
Continue reading Mastering Light Management: Optimizing Crop PerformanceWasabi Japonica Grown Under GE LED Grow Lights

The “Hardest to Grow” Plant in the World
The Opportunity
Wasabi Japonica is widely accredited as the “hardest to grow” plant in the world. The plants are native to Japan and require a very specific set of environmental conditions to successfully produce healthy plants.
Continue reading Wasabi Japonica Grown Under GE LED Grow LightsHow to get perfect turf grass for your sports field with the best lighting technologies

By Karla García, Hort Americas Technical Services
All people in sports business know how important is to maintain turf grass of sports fields in perfect shape. To achieve this, different products are applied in order to provide all the nutrients and protection to turf grass. However, maybe we are missing a very important aspect.
Continue reading How to get perfect turf grass for your sports field with the best lighting technologies
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