The FAA is testing solar-powered airfield lighting at Penn Yan Airport (KPEO) in New York.
Solar lighting has the potential to provide lighting at airports without connecting to the electrical grid, reducing an airport’s overall carbon footprint and making it possible to equip an airfield that would otherwise have little to no lighting, FAA officials noted.
“This initiative is primarily about safety, particularly at airports that don’t have resources to install full lighting systems,” said Ryan King, acting manager of the FAA’s Airport Safety Research and Design Section at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City. “The capability to install effective solar-powered lighting systems could benefit all types of airports — but especially rural, small GA airports — without sacrificing safety.”
The solar lighting system was installed in September 2021 at Penn Yan Airport. Runway and taxiway edge lights, obstruction lights, elevated runway guard lights, windsocks, and signs are lit with their own solar panels and battery supplies, according to FAA officials.
The FAA will gather data for a year, which will give it enough time to evaluate performance, as well as the costs of solar-powered lighting systems.
According to King, there’s an additional benefit to general aviation airports if the solar lighting systems are proven safe and reliable: Many of these airports are in rural areas that don’t have immediate access to medical or other emergency services. A better-equipped airport could become a lifesaving option in times of crisis, he said.
“There’s also an equity piece to making these small airports more accessible to more flights and to more people,” he said.
The agency plans to expand the program, evaluating solar lighting systems in Arizona beginning in the fall of 2022, and later in Washington state and Oklahoma.