Drivers are Dead, Grow like it's 2026!

Описание: This video is intended strictly for educational and informational purposes focused on lighting technology, facility design, energy efficiency, and controlled-environment agriculture. No regulated products are shown, sold, or promoted.

At MJBiz 2025, a bold claim sparked one of the most technical conversations of the event:

“Drivers are dead. Grow like it's 2026”

In this episode, Mikhail from TSRgrow, Cory Desloge, Director of Cultivation, Harbor House Collective and Zachary Taylor, Director of Cultivation, Bountiful Farms, break down why centralized, remote-powered lighting systems are replacing traditional fixture-mounted drivers — and what that means for:

Equipment failure rates
Heat management
Workflow & safety
Energy efficiency
Data collection
Repeatable “lighting recipes”
Yield consistency
Financial modeling (grams per watt, cost per square foot)

Operators from large-scale indoor facilities share real-world results after transitioning from legacy systems to centralized power and software-controlled lighting. The discussion dives deep into:

✔ Why drivers fail most often
✔ Removing heat from the grow space
✔ Zone-specific dimming by cultivar
✔ Lighting as a crop-steering tool
✔ Integrating lighting with building management systems
✔ How data helps CFOs make production decisions
✔ Under-canopy and side-lighting trends
✔ Designing future-proof facilities

This episode isn’t about hype — it’s about systems thinking. When lighting, HVAC, energy, and data platforms work together, facilities become more efficient, safer, and more predictable.

If you operate an indoor cultivation or controlled-environment farm, this conversation highlights where commercial lighting is heading next.

00:00 Intro — MJBiz Day 2 & “Drivers Are Dead”
00:34 Meet the Panel (Lighting Manufacturer + Facility Operators)
01:06 Why Fixture Drivers Fail
01:35 Centralized Power Explained
03:07 What Makes This Lighting Different
05:10 Problems Operators Needed to Solve
05:57 Energy Rebates & Full Facility Retrofits
07:26 The Power of Lighting Software & “Grow Recipes”
08:42 Watt-Per-Square-Foot Limitations
10:04 Zone-Specific Lighting by Cultivar
11:04 Spectrum Strategies & Far-Red Use
12:20 Under-Canopy Lighting Results
13:34 Yield Increases from Lower-Canopy Lighting
14:30 Side Lighting & Multi-Channel Control
16:46 Customer Support & Remote Monitoring
19:59 Global Support & System Integration
20:16 Consistency Through Lighting Recipes
21:38 Using Data to Talk to the CFO
23:22 Margins, Pricing & Production Decisions
24:07 Removing Drivers: Safety & Maintenance
25:06 Heat Reduction & Vertical Growing
26:09 Integration with Building Management Systems
27:31 Designing the Dream Facility
28:56 Why Systems Thinking Matters
29:54 Wrap Up — The Future of Facility Lighting

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Credits:
Lead Editor- Ryan Williams