Kraków 2020-09-16
S4GA
The S4GA company is a leading producer of airport lighting in the world. It is also the only company that designs and manufactures solar (photovoltaic) airport lighting for permanent applications. Today (2020) S4GA distributes its solar runway lighting on a global scale. Thanks to this, S4GA was recognized as a reliable and perspective partner and became a state-owned enterprise. As of today, 40% of the company is owned by the Polish government.
The Polish government is investing heavily in airport infrastructure to stimulate the economy by increasing the investment attractiveness of our country. As part of this activity, Poland has invested in several innovative companies to provide domestic airports with reliable infrastructure and to provide high-quality equipment of Polish companies. S4GA is among these companies.
"S4GA" company is a Polish company that produces and develops lighting systems for airports, landing areas and heliports. Its products are aimed not only at General Aviation airports, of which there are over 100,000 worldwide, and around 350 in Poland – but at international airport hubs and military airbases. The owners of the company noticed that most of these airports are unavailable at night due to the lack of lighting. At many airports, a typical cable system cannot be installed. Besides, it also requires constant maintenance, which is a big cost. Small airports usually need lighting for 2-3 hours a night for several months. The founders of Solutions4GA decided that it is possible to create a dedicated lighting system, depending on the needs of the airport user, 2 times cheaper than a stationary system.
Solutions4GA started its operations in 2011. Within two years, the owners of the company managed to create prototypes ready for production implementation. The solutions are complete lighting systems for airfields and landing areas for airplanes and helicopters. The owners obtained appropriate and necessary funds.
"S4GA" airfield lighting systems are designed and built for a specific recipient, for his individual needs. The system is based on a set of lighting fixtures that are not connected with each other not by cables and wires but via S4GA Mesh wireless network. At the relatively large GA airport, lamps can be set up within 25-30 minutes in a car. One person will set up 30 lamps in 15 minutes. The lighting controller (flight manager, port authority) turns on the lighting using the ALCMS computer interface, control panel, a portable handheld controller, or as a last resort by activating the first lamp on the shore. One button is all it takes. The lamps are connected to each other by radio. Not only that, the lighting can be turned on by air-band radio from the plane, if the plane has a suitable pilot.
The system is designed in such a way that a theoretical failure of one lamp does not activate the entire system. It is not possible to break the network.
When folded up, all lamps are safely placed in a trailer. The S4GA airport lighting trailer is a heavy duty trailer designed to work in the most extreme conditions. It can accommodate up to 132 portable, battery-powered, remote-controlled airport lights. It includes a portable PAPI system, power banks for PAPI and diesel generators. For charging of "S4GA" portable lights, diesel generators (for example, from Honda) can be used. Lamps can also be charged via a rectifier from the airport's fixed power grid. All sets in trailers are personalized for a specific recipient. The size of the trailer depends on the number of system components.
Each lamp weighs approximately 8 kg and has its own rechargeable battery that powers the lamp for 15 days of continuous operations. The lamp is waterproof, dustproof, UV resistant and due to its weight, strong wind will not knock it over. The battery is charged after the lamp is put back in its place in the trailer. There are contacts on the bottom of the lamp through which the lamp is charged.
Each lamp can also be powered by a photovoltaic panel. Rapid charging technology which is used in S4GA lights ensures fast energy recovery and availability of S4GA lights 365 days a year regardless of the weather, location or season of the year.
Lamps emit the appropriate color of light. As a reminder: White light marks the edge of the runway. Green and red mark the beginning and the end of the runway. The red ones are intended for marking obstacles. Blue marks the edge of the taxiway.
The S4GA offer includes Portable Helipad Lighting Kit, a fully mobile lighting system. A case with six lamps contains a portable helipad. It can be set up in moments, for example when an emergency helicopter needs to land near the scene of an accident.
The S4GA lighting system can also be used in "large" airports when a permanent lighting system is being renovated. Illuminate temporary taxiways or terrain obstacles. The lamps meet all the requirements and are certified to be used as emergency lighting. The airport lights are certified by Intertek in accordance with ICAO Annex 14.
Solar Airfield Ground Lighting is a production hit by S4GA. This runway lighting is intended for permanent use at regional airports, domestic airports and non-precision international airports. It is a complete airport ground lighting system that runs 365 days on solar (photovoltaic) energy and requires no power sources other than the sun. No cables, no CCR, no transformers.
Already in 2015, S4GA sold its products to Sierra Leone, Finland and Germany. In Poland, one of the first clients was the State Higher Vocational School in Chełm, Depułtycze Królewskie airport. As at 2020, S4GA delivered over 120 projects on more than 50 different countries. The company has representatives in Germany, England and Hungary.
The S4GA lighting system is an aviation iPhone. The recipient on the other side of the world gets the parcel, takes out the lamps, sets it up and the system works. Therefore, the company can sell the S4GA solution worldwide. S4GA lights have already been bought by the military and state services.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman