A chance meeting in an Ohio tomato field between two lifelong agricultural advocates spawned a friendship, then a business venture, that is poised to revolutionize the greenhouse industry. Firefly-One is an innovative, pulsed xenon lighting system for greenhouses that mimics the full spectrum of sunlight in natural short bursts known as sunfleck. 

If you’ve picnicked beneath a tree on a breezy, summer day basking in the dappled light trickling through a leaf canopy, you’ve experienced sunfleck. As much as you may enjoy it, plants relish sunfleck and grow like mad because of it. 

Similar to strobe lighting, the innovation of Firefly-One delivers a simulated version of sunfleck. Firefly-One is not only producing strong, healthy plants, it is doing so with a 97% reduction in electricity use. This technology means increased crop yields, lower operational costs and a smaller carbon footprint. 

After nearly eight years of research, design and optimization Firefly-One is preparing to go to market. Co-founder Gene Wisakowsky recently sat down with Kinute to explain this technology and what it could mean for controlled environment agriculture, plant health and slashing energy consumption in a booming industry.

Q: How did you come to be involved in Firefly-One?

A: Back in 2014 I was working on a project with another gentleman in Ohio testing biofungicide and he called and told me, “I've got a gentleman over in western Ohio and he’s going to work with it on tomatoes." Several months later I was up in that area, and I ended up meeting with Dick Bostdorf. Dick grew up with tomatoes and we were looking at a tomato field and he told me what he wanted to do about spraying the biofungicide. He was putting it on at a very low level and I didn't think it would work, but if that's what he wanted to try I decided to let him go with it. Towards the end of July, he called me and said, “You need to come up here and see what I’ve done.” The tomato growth was phenomenal. After talking to him he said, “Let’s go over to my greenhouse, I want to show you something.” He had strobe lights set up on tomatoes. I was kind of taken aback by the growth and quality of the tomatoes and everything that I saw. We became friends and as we were working on my project, I was helping him on his. Over the last eight years we've become partners. It was just one of those fortuitous chance meetings.

Firefly-One partners Gene Wisakowsky (back), Dick Bostdorff (center) and Craig Satterfield (front). Courtesy of Gene Wisakowsky

In a traditional greenhouse setting, how much is natural light relied upon versus supplemental lighting? 

The primary time to use additional lighting in a greenhouse is starting about mid-September until mid to late April. There's about a three-month time period that it really doesn't bring that much additional [value].

Firefly-One utilizes sunfleck mimicry through pulsed xenon light. Can you explain what this is?

If you're standing under a tree, you see dappled light across the ground. That's really where the thought pattern came from for sunfleck, back in the turn of the 20th century where they were working in the Amazon and watching light go through the trees in the jungle, trying to understand the understory plant growth. Movement of the canopy, whether it be in a tree or in a field of corn, exposes the understory to micro doses of sunlight. So, the xenon strobe has a consistent firing of 80 flashes per minute, it's just giving micro doses of pure white light to the plant canopy. That's really the relationship between sunflecks, which are small doses of sunlight, to the strobe, which is small doses of xenon light, which is very similar to the spectral quality that we see in the sun. 

How did the idea to use sunfleck mimicry in a greenhouse setting come about?

Dick Bostdorf, the inventor, retired from the transplant industry with the greenhouse industry. When he retired, he went back home and put in a greenhouse where he grew up. One of the things he wanted to do was grow plants during the wintertime, and when he got in and really started playing with it, it was just too darn expensive. He started thinking through what he had learned over the last 60 years in the industry and came up with an idea. Then he started researching it and testing it and realized that the pulsed xenon may offer the opportunity. He ran yearly testing and collected data and was able to prove that yes, in fact it would work, and it worked really well. 

A pulse of light from Firely-One illuminates plants (left) in the greenhouse. Courtesy of Gene Wisakowsky

Does Firefly-One target food crops specifically or all plants?

All plants, we haven't found anything that does not respond.

Are there certain plants that respond to this type of lighting better than others?

I can tell you that tomatoes love it, and cannabis goes crazy. 

Cannabis grown with Firefly-One. Courtesy of Gene Wisakowsky

Some people have sensitivities to strobe lighting, which is similar to pulsed lighting. Is there any concern about long term exposure to this for people working in this environment?

That’s a good question. Pulsed lighting and strobe lighting are the same. We flash it at the rate that is accepted within normal industrial practices for not triggering or giving a person a health problem. We use the same frequency that is used on fire alarms. Another thing that goes on with xenon is that UVC is a special wavelength of UV light and it's used in food sterilization processes but is also the UV spectrum that can cause cataracts in full sun, which is an issue for people of course, but you can design out of that. So, we have designed out of having the UVC wavelengths. 

It’s been reported that the technology utilized by Firefly-One reduces energy consumption by 97% compared to traditional greenhouse lighting, was this part of the initial goal when developing this technology?

Yes, that's what Dick had an issue with. It just cost so much to run. He had no idea that he was going to end up at this level when he started. He was looking to help the growers be more successful, be more profitable. Little did he know 15 years ago that we would be in the energy situation where we are today. Our product is 26 watts, and the industry standard is out there for LED and HPS is about 1000 watts. Basically, your energy savings will offset the cost of the fixture and once you convert over there's immediate savings that will pay for the cost of installation.

A Firefly-One prototype on display at a state fair. Courtesy of Gene Wisakowsky

One of your specialties has been bacteria. What relationships have you found between bacteria and lighting regarding plant health? Anything specific to Firefly-One?

The purpose of photosynthesis is to produce sugar that's used as the energy source within the plant. That's also what the plant uses to feed the microbes in the soil. If you can increase the microbiome of the plant, you're going to have a healthier plant. When you get really detailed into what's happening with the bacteria in the soil you realize that the plant is starting to feed those organisms better. 

Voracious root growth shown in a plant grown in a Firefly-One greenhouse. Courtesy of Gene Wisakowsky

What is your hope for how this technology will impact greenhouse growing on a global scale?

We have to reduce the energy consumption of greenhouses. They’re having to turn them off in Europe because of issues with natural gas. We don’t have enough energy out there to keep funding it. It’s really going to impact greenhouses on a global scale, because it’s really the only way they’re going to be able to survive. If you look at what's happened within the United States since we started legalizing cannabis, that wasn't even thought of in the energy projections of 10-15 years ago.

A greenhouse set up with Fiefly-One pulsed lighting. Courtesy of Gene Wisakowsky

What’s on the horizon that most excites you regarding this work? 

Getting it to market. We’re probably 3-4 months out.

For more information, visit firefly-one.com.