In September 2012, a new and innovative lighting system was installed at Luxol football stadium.
The AAA LUX (triple A LUX) LED sport field lighting is a Dutch made product and is today’s future in sport- and area lighting.
Pieter Bregman, Dynamic LED lighting consultant, is in charge of the marketing and sales of these lighting systems from LedExpert in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
The AAA LUX LED sport field lighting has been developed, to make sport field lighting easier to use.
What is more important, it is cheaper to run. The fact is, that the electricity bill is the biggest cost of a Club.
Normally metal halide is used to light up sport venues, but there are disadvantages using this type of lighting equipment.
First of all, they use a lot of energy, varying on the models, but 1,000 and 2,000 watt per light are the standard lights used for sport fields. Metal halide lighting has to be switched on 15 to 20 minutes before the match will start, because of the pre heating of the lights and if, by accident or electricity failure, the lights switch OFF, they cannot be switched ON immediately, when power comes back.
AAA LUX can be switched ON and OFF whenever needed and in case of power failure, they will switch ON as soon as the power comes back. The AAA LUX system does not require this pre heat time, which will save a lot of energy, thus money.
Even if the electricity drops ( voltage drop ), the lights give the normal light effect, no flickering, the light intensity remains the same !
The AAA LUX LED’s are the opposite of these “traditional” lights.
Their maximum power consumption is 1600 watts, so that is already a reduction on energy consumption of 20%, compared to the traditional metal halide lights.
The system can be dimmed and brightened to the settings the user wants.
A case study shows with metal halide lights, before a game is going to be played, the lighting has to be switched ON for at least 20 minutes before the game.
The AAA LUX system, on the contrary, can be switched ON immediately when needed and the lights will be set at 5% of the capacity of the system, which still will allow the visitors to see clearly and safely go their seat(s).
When the players come on the pitch for their warm-up, the lights will be set at 50%, Finally when the game starts, the lights will be set at 100%.
During half time, the lights go back to 50% setting, efficient enough for the reserve players to warm-up.
Obviously the light will be set at 100%, when the referees and players come back for the second half.
This is one of the many options this lighting system can offer.
The choice of the light setting and its intensity, depends on the requirement, set by the ground manager.
These settings are being done via a lap-top, with the light control management on-screen.
At Luxol Sports Club, the ground manager Mario De Battista, makes sure, by using the lighting “dynamically”, that financial savings on energy are made on the spot !
The cost on energy during a game at Luxol is approximately 60% (!) lower than any other stadiums !
With its own secured WIFI system, AAA LUX can also be controlled wireless by Smart phone or Smart tablet, which makes it easier for the ground- or site manager, to do his/her work !
On October 1 2013, an inspection at Luxol Sports Club was made by UEFA delegates and they have approved the stadium and its facilities. They were very impressed, that Luxol is using a lighting system, that gives more light and consumes less electricity.
The Maltese Football Association ( MFA ) is already convinced by this innovative lighting system and will offer the Maltese football Clubs AAA LUX, which will bring the Clubs huge annual savings.
Pieter Bregman says, “Clubs can save approximately €6,000 to €7,000 per year and that is if the system is used one-on-one, so no dimming and brightening, just switching it ON and OFF.
If the system is used dynamically, these savings on the electricity bills can go up to €11,000 per year”.
This number is based on 16 to 18 lights in a stadium, where currently 20 to 24 standard metal halide flood lights are placed.
LED light gives more light than the conventional light and it increases the safety on a sport field, not only football, but also on hockey pitches, tennis courts, athletic tracks, horse racing tracks and motor racing tracks, because of the higher quality of light it provides, compared to the traditional lighting.
AAA LUX and AREALUX ( for flood lighting bigger areas and architectural sites ) are developed for retro fit, which means, no extra expensive wiring is required, one just takes the “old” lights off and replaces them simply with AAA LUX LED lighting.
AAA LUX extracts 5 Ampere to operate, where the traditional lighting requires 16 Ampere.
For this reason, AAA LUX can be installed with thinner cables and this can save thousands of Euros on wiring costs.