A review and comparison on the use of Solar Powered versus Diesel Powered Lighting Towers

The use of temporary site lighting has been part of the construction site landscape for many years. Traditional diesel generator lighting towers have over the years strived to reduce power consumption and diesel usage as well as inherent noise associated with the equipment. There are, however, major issues that still remain with diesel powered lighting including:

Noise - noise can still be an issue on certain sites particularly in the urban environment, affecting our lineside neighbours.

Maintenance – generators require sufficient fuel and servicing for continued operation which requires significant manpower.

Environmental challenges – The need for storage and filling of fuel plus the emissions created by the use of diesel generators on site present environmental challenges.

Mobile Solar Powered Lighting Tower

A solar powered option provides many benefits and advantages which overcome the challenges of noise, maintenance and environmental impact of both the conventional diesel and other hybrid solutions on the market.

ABC Electrification used the Pro-Light solar lighting tower produced by Prolectric on the Filton Airfield Site Compound during a 6 week programme of the Severn Tunnel electrification works for Network Rail. The site was in use 24/7 for a 6 week period between Sep to Oct 2016. A comparison between the use of Pro-Light and diesel powered lighting unit reveals benefits in CO2 emissions, noise and man hour requirements.

Light Tower Model / Noise Level dB / KgCO2e / Diesel Used (litres) / Man Hours
VT1 / 65 / 2409 / 899 / 4
VT2 / 67 / 1608 / 600 / 10
VT Hybrid / 65 / 308 / 115 / 0.5
VB9 / 92 / 718 / 268 / 1
PROLIGHT / NIL / NIL / NIL / NIL

As can be seen, the use of a ProLight solar powered lighting tower far outperformed that of diesel powered lighting in terms of the operating costs and environmental impact on the site at Filton Airfield, with zero noise, zero maintenance, zero diesel and zero carbon emissions. The unit can also be set to operate automatically from a remote location.

Annual Savings

The previous case study shows the difference between a single Pro-Light solar lighting tower compared to the various diesel alternatives. Taking the savings seen on one project and applying across a sites annual use, assuming 4300 or darkness per annum, the following table shows the annual savings achieved by the use of the solar powered option. Examples of 1 tower up to 100 towers on any one particular site is presented to show savings in terms of carbon emissions, diesel costs and estimated manpower for the most efficient diesel option, the VT Hybrid unit as follows:

ProLight Number / Carbon Emission* Saving Kg CO2e / £ saving
Estimated Diesel Usage Saving (l) / Diesel Cost Saving** / Manpower Costs Saving*** / Total £ Saving per annum
1 / 2,567 / 983 / £ 491.50 / £ 153 / £ 644.5
10 / 25,670 / 9,830 / £ 4,915 / £ 1,530 / £ 6,445
50 / 128,350 / 49,150 / £ 24,575 / £ 7,650 / £ 32,225
100 / 256,700 / 98,300 / £ 49,150 / £ 15,300 / £ 64,450

*Estimation based on VT1 Hybrid

**Diesel cost of £0.5 per litre

***Manpower costs estimated at £25 per hour rate taking 1.0 hour to fill the generator

In addition to the environmental benefits and costs savings the use of remote monitoring and maintenance offered by Prolectric provides peace of mind in the knowledge that the units will provide consistent year round operation even in harsh UK winter months.

Pro-Light is available for hire through Speedy via Network Rail suppliers list, or Prolectric can be contacted on 01275 400570 or alternatively email on

Prepared by Robinson Deon27 March 2017