Battery powered light tower: no fuel, no exhaust
A power station on the cart instead of a generator. Silent at the point of use, no fumes, and a runtime that is decided by the capacity in watt hours rather than by a fuel tank.
Specification
What the sheet states for this build, and what is confirmed per order.
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Power source | Portable power station on the cart |
| Station options | 300 W / 1000 Wh, or 1000 W / 2000 Wh continuous |
| Station weight | 11 kg and 23 kg |
| Lamps | 60 to 320 W on the small station, up to 600 W on the larger |
| Cart | Small, medium or large, lamp and mast mounted |
| Mast | Telescopic, up to 4.1 m depending on cart |
| Runtime | Capacity divided by lamp load, less about ten percent |
| Recharge | Mains between shifts, or a generator on site |
| Noise | None at the lamp |
| Exhaust | None |
| Protection | IP54 on the lamp |
| Warranty | 5 years on the lamp |
The inverter rating is continuous, not surge. A 1000 W station runs a 1000 W lamp only while nothing else is plugged into it, and the runtime at that load is under two hours.
The runtime arithmetic
Watt hours divided by lamp watts gives hours, and the answer is always optimistic because the inverter loses about a tenth of the energy on the way through. A 2,000 Wh station running a 320 W lamp gives about six hours; the same station on a 1,000 W lamp gives under two.
The figure to ask for on a quotation is the runtime at a named lamp, at a stated starting charge, at a stated ambient temperature. Cold cells give less, which matters for a winter night shift.
- The lamp wattage the tower will actually run, not the largest lamp in the catalogue.
- The length of a shift plus the recharge window between shifts.
- Whether a second station can be carried, which is often cheaper than a larger one.
Where battery wins
Indoor work, tunnels, hospital and campus sites, residential streets at night, and any job where a running engine is a complaint. There is no exhaust at the lamp, so the unit can stand where people are working.
It also wins on handling. A station is lighter and quieter than a generator of the same output, and it starts instantly with no pull cord and no choke.
- A charging point, which is the one thing a battery tower cannot do without.
- Spare capacity for a cold night, because the runtime figure is measured warm.
- The station's output sockets match the lamp plug.
The limits, stated plainly
A battery tower is not an eight-hour tower for a 1,000 W lamp. Above roughly 600 W the arithmetic stops working for a full shift, and the honest options are a larger station bank, a generator, or a smaller lamp run dimmed.
Battery capacity also fades with age. A station rated at 2,000 Wh when new will not deliver that after several hundred cycles, so a fleet that runs nightly should plan replacement into the cost per night.
Before the order
- Load: match the tower to the lamp, not to the largest lamp it could carry.
- Charging: a charging window between shifts is part of the specification.
- Cold: plan on less runtime below about 5 C, and keep the station out of the wind.
- Build
- Battery powered
- Line
- Mobile light towers
- Ask for
- Specification sheet, photometric file, packing list
Send the site, get the sheet.
Build, specification sheet and the option list for each line item, in one reply.