TowerLight's new VB9 tower cuts fuel use

TowerLight said it will dramatically cut fuel use on its new VB9 lighting tower by using the latest engine technology from hybrid cars. The VB9 will operate for 320 hours on a single tank of fuel, compared to 60-65 hours on traditional towers.

The VB9 is the next generation version of the company's best-selling tower, the VT1.

TowerLight said the use of permanent magnet alternator technology found on hybrid cars, combined with a traditional generator, dramatically reduces the power required to run the tower.

Andrea Fontanella, TowerLight's technical director, told IRN that by using soft-start technology and the new alternator, the company has been able to minimise the start-up power requirements, which means reducing the size of the generator from the 10 kVA Kubota used on the VT1 to a 3 kVA Kohler on the new VB9. Traditional power systems have to be ‘oversized' to provide the peak start-up requirements.

The result is a far more efficient unit, with significantly lower fuel consumption and an increase in running hours on a single tank from around 65 hours on the VT1 to 320 hours on the VB9.

Paul Hay, TowerLight's international sales manager and director of the company's UK subsidiary, said; "I'm convinced that within two years the vast majority of our towers will be the VB units." Pricing of the VB9 will be the same as the VT1.

Read the full interview with TowerLight in the September-October issue of IRN.