Providing a DarkPark™ Solution
The Wind Industry is both applauded and criticized for its effect on the local communities where wind energy projects are being built. In many cases, the main concern of local residents is the view shed or unappealing visual impact caused by new wind development. It is evident that being a good steward of the environment and addressing these issues is a cornerstone of any successful wind developer’s business model and OCAS can help by allowing wind developers to significantly decrease the night time visual impact of a wind park.
OCAS stands out as an environmental friendly technology.
The OCAS technology is a revolutionary new technology that addresses both the night time visual impact issues of a wind farm while also meeting or exceeding current aviation safety standards.
OCAS lowers the environmental impact of the wind farm by providing an intelligent means to activate approved lighting. The lights are ONLY activated when aircraft are operating in the vicinity thereby reducing excessive light pollution and annoyance to nearby communities. The OCAS technology can lead to an easier acceptance of the wind farm in the community and assist in the permitting process. OCAS is currently the only wind turbine lighting solution approved by the International Dark Sky Association.
As the height of wind turbines are only expected to grow over the next several decades, ensuring both adequate safety and environmental measures are met is a challenge. OCAS provides an ideal solution in meeting these challenges.
The OCAS Solution
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OCAS uses low powered radars that can be attached to the outside of the wind turbine tower (or on separate masts) in order to provide a proximity obstruction marking and warning system that is capable of delivering both visual and audible warnings to aircraft flying too closely to the airspace surrounding wind parks.
Utilizing the unique OCAS surveillance capabilities limits the obstruction light run times to actual threats thus eliminating the light pollution associated with legacy obstruction marking applications which traditionally run their lighting system on a continuous basis to maintain compliance with aviation administration safety recommendations.
The OCAS application is further differentiated from other obstruction marking systems, requiring no additional equipment in the approaching aircraft to provide the audible alarm to the aircraft’s cockpit radio. Installation of the system is compatible with wind park layouts and will not compromise or complicate the generation equipment sighting process.
