Energy Use/Cost Management in Indoor Cultivation

Growing
21

Hi Kent,

Thanks for reaching out. The deruglated markets in your neck of the woods are definitely ripe for interesting sourcing/management approaches. Will reach out offline.

Thanks,
Kevin Mayer
kevin@croptimizeinc.com

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22

Hi Matt

Thanks for your reply. Sounds good.

Letā€™s talk next week.

Regards,

Kent

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23

Sounds great Kent. Iā€™ll send you an email to coordinate.

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24

Hi there,

I would like to share a paper which provides a quite prof. method to caculate cost of production in cannabis cultivation: Cost_of_Production_Canna.pdf (340.8 KB)

They have developed a long-run-average-cost-approach (LRAC) or better a model to estimate/calculate the cost of production. In the end it is important to gain control/understanding of energy cost but other aspects are also important :wink:

@CROPTIMIZE and @Matt-TRYM I would be glad to discuss options of collaboration with you guys, since we are speciallized in setting up optimized lighting systems.

cheers

Christoph

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25

Hi Christoph,

Thanks for sharing that report. Iā€™d steer you towards Evan Mills 2012 on the subject, which is considerably more detailed/directionally more accurate (for the time and the type of grow). It has been argued ten ways to Sunday, but has some solid directional insight on the topic. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.396.4759&rep=rep1&type=pdf

In my opinion, there is not really a standard cost model ā€“ on one hand, growers select different hardware/have different grow methodologies which impact energy dependence. On the other hand, the cost of the energy is a function of the location/size/operational model of the grow.

We model a growā€™s unique energy need, provide guidance on most efficient operation, then monitor to ensure an operation spends the least amount of money possible on the energy they need to operate successfully. Would be happy to chat with you ā€“ as you know, lights are a key part of the equation!

Thanks,
Kevin Mayer
kevin@croptimizeinc.com

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26

The ever-popular Mills report is useful for bringing light to the topic of cannabis energy use, but unfortunately mischaracterizes the current state of the industry. The primary issue is that it uses residential energy rates for the analysis. He also assumes all energy prices are the highest rate, Residential - Tier 5, which is $0.39/kWh. Even in CA, where commercial energy prices are among the highest in the country, we typically see $/kWh prices at peak times around $0.10 - 0.30 / kWh.

Totally agree and I would add, in my 10 years of experience in the energy sector, Iā€™ve seen that beyond the location and size of a building, about 60% of a commercial customerā€™s energy bill is actually based on the time at which they use energy.

At Trym, we offer complementary energy assessments to qualifying facilities to help them identify low or no-cost solutions to reduce their energy expenses. Often there are small tweaks, such as room schedules or equipment timers that can be modified to save growers a meaningful amount on their energy bills.

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27

Hi Kevin,

Many thanks for the paper. Regarding the energy consumtion of lighting we have seen the following problems/options so farā€¦

  • Many cultivators have oversized the lighting what is allways a good idea but without the possibility of dimming it is counterproductive (Based on our experience very high light outputs are only needed wihin the last weeks)
  • HVAC and lighting are not realy aligned and therefor donā€™t work togehter (And that actually one of the biggest issues)
  • Walls within the grow rooms are not optimized in terms of minimizing the absorbtion and optimizing the distribution of light
  • the cultivation methods are not optimized (think of see-of-green in combination with rolling benches and/or multi tier systems)

I am on holiday at the moment but I will be fully available next week. So chatting would be great so what channel would you prefer :wink:

cheers

Christoph

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28

Hi Christoph,

It would be great to chat. Weā€™re working on some exciting things around lighting control and there could definitely be some opportunities for collaboration.

Reach out once youā€™re back from holiday. matt@trym.io

Best,
Matt

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29

Hi Matt - would love to chat - are you in New England? Where are you located?

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30

Weā€™re based in the SF Bay Area. Happy to jump on a call whenever is convenient for you. Iā€™ve done energy projects all over the US, including lots in NE. Even put solar on the Patriots Stadium :slight_smile:

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31

Hi Matt

Sounds like you know your way around - if you know any growers in the northeast letā€™s discuss - we pay ongoing referral fees on the energy contracts

Regards,

Kent

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