Finland’s oldest civilian airport in Turku wanted to try the ELLED™ technology and measure the actual energy savings and improved operational reliability. The installation was done in a taxiway edge circuit, and the energy consumption was measured for both installations: the old halogen technology and LED after the refurbishment. Based on the measurements, we concluded that the ELLED™ solution produces significant energy savings and minimizes field failures thanks to its driverless technology.
The technology behind the innovation
Novel technologies require plenty of testing and validation; hence every field installation is precious. The ELLED™ solution enables the replacement of old PK30d and reflector-type halogen bulbs with LED bulbs and has been installed in a few different locations since 2019. The driverless LED solution is based on the interplay between the ELLED™ LED bulbs and the low current CCR. Low circuit current is one enabler of substantial energy savings, as it follows from Ohms law P~I2, meaning that the power losses in cables are proportional to the square of the current. This means that when the current doubles, the power quadruples, and of course, the inverse happens when the current decreases. The strength of the ELLEGO™ concept lies in the fact that most applications can be run with a primary current of less than 1 A compared to the traditional 6.6 A.
Taxiway edge refurbishment at Turku Airport
The existing halogen installation covered 58 taxiway edge lights and 9 guidance signs with altogether 130 pcs of PK30d halogen bulbs of 45W. During the LED refurbishment, the halogen bulbs were replaced by 130 pcs of ELLED bulbs of 6W, and the 6.6A CCR was replaced by ELLEGO™ Low Current CCR. Existing infrastructure, including light fixtures, signs and cabling/transformers were re-used.
The refurbished circuit was approximately 4.5km long, and the original bulb holder was improved with the additional strain relief. The LED bulb was changed in the same way as the halogen bulb would have been changed, and no special tools or processes were needed.
The actual power consumption was measured directly from the CCR input, before and after the LED refurbishment, with the following results:
At the highest intensity level (100%), the energy consumption is 91% lower than with corresponding halogen technology, and at the higher intensity level, savings are even higher. In addition to energy saving, the lower circuit current gave new life to cables and transformers that would otherwise have to be replaced.
Savings and ease of maintenance
The ELLED™ low current AGL solution can provide up to 95% lower power consumption compared to halogens and tens of percent lower consumption compared to 6.6A LED technology, not to mention utilizing existing infrastructure to reduce waste while updating technology. This can mean annual savings of tens of thousands of euros for small airports, and for larger airports, we can talk about hundreds of thousands. In terms of the whole, the sums are small, but the result is created from smaller parts. Now would be the time to start preparations for sustainable AGL infrastructure implementations to save money, energy, and the environment.
