S4GA Solar Runway Lighting System has been installed at Kaunas Airport – a regional airport located in Lithuania, Europe. The Solar AGL system was selected as a cost-effective solution alternative to traditional hard-wired runway lighting. Currently, S4GA airfield lighting is used at Kaunas Airport on permanent basis.
S. Darius and S. Girėnas Airport (or Aleksotas Airport) is a domestic Lithuanian aerodrome located near the city of Kaunas. This is a civil airport that is primarily used by local flight schools and air clubs.
In 2017, the local government decided to renovate airports for business and general aviation. The renovation program included the installation of an airfield lighting system at an aerodrome. The aerodrome was never equipped with any AGL system before.
The main challenge for airport management was to find a cost-effective, and ICAO-certified high-quality airfield lighting system. Due to the limited budget set by the government for this project, all offers received from suppliers of traditional hard-wired runway lighting, have been rejected. The airport budget was not enough for traditional wired runway lighting.
In the meantime, portable airfield lights – which were much cheaper – did not fit airport needs. Portable lights are designed for temporary usage, they require recharging from time to time. Whereas Kaunas Airport was looking for the permanent lighting system.
Airport management started looking for alternative solutions. They approached S4GA – an EU-based manufacturer of certified airfield lighting systems – and requested the offer.
S4GA offered permanent solar runway lighting system certified and compliant with ICAO regulations. The system is designed for permanent applications, it operates 365 days on solar energy. Control and monitoring of AGL are performed by UR-201 Unit installed in the ATC room. The Unit allows AGL control from the ground and from the air.
Installation of the S4GA system was done by FIMA – one of the leading systems integrators working in the Baltic Region. For this airport, FIMA engineers designed special mounting stakes for the ground surface. It saved the runway surface from drilling the holes for standard mounting plates.
The cost of S4GA solar airfield lighting was few times less than traditional cabled lighting. The Customer was satisfied with the S4GA system in terms of both financial and technical outcomes.
