How lighting towers are meeting rental sector demand

Lighting tower releases continue to respond to demand for low emission products, with compact, versatile options of key interest to rental. IRN reports.

Extended run times for light towers

Doosan Portable Power has launched the LVL 50 Hz portable light tower for the Middle East and Africa markets. Designed for reliability and durability, the tower - also available as a 60 Hz model - is described as “ideal for the rental market.” It has a compact footprint job site mobility and easy transport.

Doosan LVL Light Tower.

“Applications include lighting for special events, road and bridge construction sites and all general construction applications, as well as providing lighting for emergency and disaster relief, oil and gas drilling and for mining and quarrying locations,” Doosan Portable Power confirms.

The LVL light tower has a power train based around the Yanmar L48N5 Tier 2 diesel engine, with a high output alternator, offering extended run-time of 220 hours (200 hours for the 60 Hz version).

“The four efficient and 300 W LED lights give a total output of 1200 W, providing the same area of lighting coverage as the previous generation metal-halide lighting tower. The durability of the LED lights is also a significant improvement providing up to 50 thousand hours of lifetime. This means that the LVL can be kept running for much longer and at a lower overall cost.”

“Whether it is the forklift capability, single-point lifting, or towing eye, the user has the benefit of many options for moving the unit. Repositioning the light is very simple, thanks to the 7-metre (23 ft) telescopic extension and full 360-degree rotation.

The new vertical mast also allows more units to fit into a standard 40-feet shipping container. Set up simply requires the draw bar to be dropped down, the fuel tank to be filled and the unit to be started.

Generac V20 PRO lighting tower.

Also “rental ready” are Generac Mobile’s CUBE PRO and V20 PRO which launched just over a year ago. Described as “plug-in hybrid” lighting towers, they allow the user to select the type of power supply of the machine, offering a “3 in 1” model that is either: 100% electric (powered only by the built-in battery pack); Stage V Diesel engine (powered only by the built-in generator); or a hybrid system (powered by automatically alternated generator/battery cycles).

The PRO lighting towers have two power sockets (Multipin and CEE), further extending the multiple use concept to connect to a Generac new Solar Kit (via Multipin socket). This option allows to use the unit in Hybrid Solar mode or a new Battery Pack (via CEE socket) which allows the unit to be used in extended electric mode.

The Solar Kit has 3 x 330 W photovoltaic panels, which can recharge the batteries integrated in the PRO lighting tower during the day. The panels can be tilted and stacked using sliding guides for transport and storage.

Generac says the PRO models allow rental companies to choose a single lighting tower model for their fleet, meeting requirements of the new World Green Deal and meeting a range of customer needs “without having to diversify their fleet and increasing the speed of return on investment and ease of fleet management.”

Lighting towers with low emissions

The Trime Group is continuing to make what it describes as “substantial investments” in the development of low and emission-free lighting towers under the Trime T-Zero brand.

Three lighting towers in the range attracting demand are the X- Eco Hybrid Lithium, and the award winning X- Solar Hybrid, alongside the X-Solar - an emission and noise-free solar only lighting tower.

Powered by lithium battery technology, the X- Eco Hybrid Lithium can be fully recharged in less than two hours; in a ten-hour cycle, for 80% of operation, the light is powered solely by its batteries and emits zero noise and zero carbon emissions.

Trime says solar power is becoming the preferred option by site managers, driving demand from rental firms for fossil-fuel free machinery, and therefore for the two solar powered lighting towers, the X-Solar Hybrid and X-Solar.

The HBOX+ lighting tower from Himoinsa.

The former is powered by a combination of solar and engine power and will run for 3,000 hours before refuelling is needed, at which point it uses 0.55 litres of fuel per hour. The X-Solar sets are powered by solar panels that the company says make them emission and noise free.

The new products feature a nine-metre vertical mast and LED lamps designed to target worldwide rental markets.

Meanwhile, targeted at the European market, the HBOX+ from Himoinsa features long running time and 600-hour service intervals. It has “innovative connectivity features” and a two-cylinder stage V Yanmar engine designed to ensure “competitive fuel consumption levels.”

“With a light capacity of 210,000 lumens, the HBOX+ incorporates 4 x 350 W LED spotlights (50X50 SMD Chip Technology). Its hydraulic mast reaches a height of 8.3 m and can rotate through 360°, thus guaranteeing optimum light coverage.”

The tower also features a SafetyMast, an electronic control device that can detect obstacles, impacts and high wind speeds and can regulate the height of the mast autonomously depending on the strength of the wind.

The HBOX+ also has LED Dimming Control, while the CET8 controller includes automatic working mode (start/stop), engine Run/Stop, mast Up/Down and lamps On/Off, as well as a reverse mode when the stop is activated.

Other features include wide doors on all sides and on the roof, with a removable frame for cleaning and maintenance, while the interior contains emergency LED lights in case the equipment is switched off.

The tower is also able to withstand wind speeds of 110 Km/h or more and to facilitate transport, it features a lifting hook at the top and mounting points on all four sides of the frame for forklifts. Up to 22 units can be transported in a 13 m mega-trailer truck and 20 units in a 40’ container.

Bruno’s LED lighting tower with lithium batteries.

Battery innovation in light towers

Bruno’s offering includes LED lighting towers, energy storage systems and hybrid generators. The company says an important feature of its offer are Italian made lithium batteries (LiNMC type) manufactured by the Bruno Group’s battery specialist Archimede Energia.

Bruno says of the batteries that they “stand out for high energy efficiency and longer life cycle with a constant performance over the time, faster and less frequent recharge for a higher productivity compared to traditional batteries. They do not require maintenance and have a small carbon footprint.”

The company’s R&D Department has also produced the Battery Management System (BMS) Hermes M3, which has its own software to allow batteries to communicate with inverters, solar chargers, permanent magnet generators “for a very high level of integration and efficiency.”

The batteries can be recharged from the mains as well as from the integrated generator.

TSR’s LED upgrade

Finland-based TSR Elsite says its attracting demand for its Proled Plus replacement kit to upgrade old light masts, which includes LED flood lights and connectors that make installation easy to any light mast. 

The TSR Proled Plus LED flood light kit with up 152 000 lumen light output and 60° opening angle give lighting to a 3000 m2 area.

It includes 4 pcs 120 W or 4 pcs 240W LED flood lights with 5000K colour temperature. Flood lights include high quality Philips Lumiled diodes and reliable Meanwell driver. Flood lights include Wieland male connectors and the set comes with female connectors to connect lights to any light mast.

As a proof of quality and 50 000 hour lifetime, the TSR Proled Plus mast lightcpomes with a 5-year warranty.

Lind Beacon LED light tower.

Trailer mounted light tower from Lind 

The latest of Canada-based Lind Equipment’s Beacon LED Light Towers is a trailer mounted unit. It has key features of the Beacon LED Tower - full brightness, uses only 200W per light head, IP65 weatherproof rating, durable and versatile - plus a built-in mounted trailer, allowing workers to pull the tower around the jobsite from the back of any vehicle.

The tower can be used as a generator powered light tower, an electric powered light tower and as a diffused no-glare light tower. It now has “the added capacity of working on construction sites that require a tow-behind light tower.”

Lind is based in Canada and has offices in the USA as well as representation in the UK, Finland, Spain and France.

The Nightsearcher Tower Pro lighting tower.

Portable lighting

UK company NightSearcher offers the portable Tower Pro 5K, a rechargeable, battery powered floodlight that is simple to set up for inspection work, DIY and construction in both indoor and outdoor applications.

Weighing just 4.5 kg and collapsible down to a 0.9 m length, the Tower Pro uses light heads that are rotational and provide a 360° wide illumination and 90m beam. The light offers three light levels: 500-5000Im and runs from one hour (high) to five hours (low). A choice of warm and cool light outputs is also available, accessed via a switch and brightness control panel.

The floodlight can be plugged into a mains socket for a continuous operation or run on a built-in rechargeable battery. It features removable stability spikes for uneven ground, extends to 2m, collapses to 0.9m and is supplied in a carry bag for transportation.

MHM’s emission free light tower

The UK’s MHM sells emission-free lighting sets including the MHM ST-9 and the MHM Street-Lite.

The ST-9 is the larger of the two units, a solar/battery, diesel-free, site lighting tower that operates from a combination of an AGM sealed lead acid self-charging battery, with four LG360 solar panels. Illumination is via a bank of energy-saving LED lamps fitted to a nine-metre mast. To ensure that the lights only operate when necessary, the ST-9 is has a ‘Dusk ‘til Dawn Auto Start/Stop Sensor’.

Designed for simple use and set up, it features a Lithium iron phosphate battery “and has no complicated wiring or fixings.” It is also fitted with an automatic movement sensor that dims light when no movement is detected, and increases coverage when motion is detected.

Atlas Copco partnerships

Spanish company Morillo Energy Rent rented four HiLight B5+ light towers from Atlas Copco, which illuminated the sporting stages at Extreme Sports Barcelona in September 2021.

Jordi Casas, Project Manager Events at Morillo Energy Rent, said the light towers were selected for their versatility and light coverage. “We connected four HiLight B5+ to the power grid, which became a very sustainable solution. It allowed us to minimise environmental impact, reducing carbon footprint, NOx and CO2 emissions and, of course, noise levels.”

Miguel Ángel Artiel, Technical Director at Morillo Energy Rent, said the model’s compact dimensions allowed the company to minimise transportation costs installation times. “They also come with start-stop function, which is great for applications that do not need a light source all the time,” he said.

Atlas Copco has worked with Morillo since 2016, when it acquired a set of HiLight B5+ light towers. Morillo’s B5+ fleet has since grown to 23, as well as three QAS5 power generators from Atlas Copco.

Meanwhile Atlas Copco’s Power and Flow division recently sold 30 units of solar-powered LED light tower, the HiLight S2+, to Dayim Equipment Rental Co in Saudi Arabia. The innovative S2+ light tower is efficient and delivers high performance, giving workers good visibility while allowing sites to increase sustainability and comply with zero CO2 emission and noise regulations.

Green leadership from Sunbelt UK 

Sunbelt Rentals UK has over 4,000 light towers, which it describes as “the UK’s largest fleet of tower lights.”

“We have invested over £20 million in sustainable lighting in the past 18 months,” a company spokesperson confirmed. “This is largely with Trime but also with Generac, to offer a fleet that can make a significant, positive impact on the environment.”