Laufer Wind announces the first FAA-approved commercial operation of an Aircraft Detection Lighting System (ADLS) on a U.S. wind farm. The radar-activated lighting technology was installed on a recently constructed and commissioned 80-MW wind farm in Wyoming. Flight tests were successfully conducted and the system went operational in November of 2016.
Laufer’s radar-based lighting technology reduces impact of blinking lights on wind farm neighbors.
Tall structures are required to be lit by the FAA as a safety precaution for pilots. Wind-farm developers and owners face a unique challenge in addressing local communities’ concerns about the potential for blinking lights at night.
“Since we turned the system on in Wyoming, we regularly see nights where the lights are off 99% of the time,” said Eric Laufer, Founder and President of Laufer Wind. “This is an exciting achievement for us and a step forward for the wind industry.”
The ADLS is designed to mitigate the impact of nighttime lights by deploying a radar-based system around a farm, turning lights on only when low-flying aircraft are detected nearby. Standards for ADLS technology were introduced by the FAA in December 2015.
Laufer Wind is the first company to successfully demonstrate ADLS to the FAA, the first to receive FAA approval for an ADLS deployment, and the first to achieve commercial operation of an ADLS at a U.S. wind farm.
“I believe radar lighting will enable more turbines to be permitted and built around the world and we expect to see many more installations in the US in the near future,” said Laufer.
Filed Under: News, Projects, Safety, Towers
