Most of the time TowerXchange is caught up in strategic talks and deal analysis but today, we are focusing on one of the smallest and yet most important components of a tower: obstruction lights. Their function is key not only for the aviation industry but also to protect residential areas while ensuring towers don’t become an impediment to the ever growing air traffic.
In this interview, we chat with Stella Su of Shanghai Nanhua Electronics, a leading organisation with twenty-five years of experience in the sector, and find out more about obstruction lights and their function in the tower industry ecosystem.
TowerXchange: Please introduce Shanghai Nanhua Electronics - what products do you offer to the telecom tower industry, how long ago was the business established?
Stella Su, Vice Director of Sales, NANHUA:
NANHUA was established in 1990 as a family business with the goal to produce audible and visible alarms for a couple of industrial enterprises. In 1999, the company had one hundred clients from a variety of industries and kept growing at a steady pace.
In 2007, we decided to open up to the telecom tower industry and since then, there have been over 150,000 installations of our obstruction lights in eighty-one countries. Our lights are designed according to ICAO and FAA standards and include low, medium, high density and solar lights, all with LED light source.
TowerXchange: What proportion of Shanghai Nanhua’s business comes from mobile network operators compared to towercos?
Stella Su, Vice Director of Sales, NANHUA:
Most of our business comes from towercos as obstruction lights are a small component of the eco-system and usually don’t fall under MNOs’ responsibilities. In Africa and Asia we have cooperated with over 50% of the existing towercos.
TowerXchange: From which countries are you seeing most demand for your products? How are your products sold worldwide - do you sell direct or through local partners?
Stella Su, Vice Director of Sales, NANHUA:
Right now, we forecast most of the Asian demand to come from Myanmar but there is also a considerable amount of business coming from Vietnam and other emerging Asian markets. Latin America is another region which is particularly active.
TowerXchange: Are the requirements for aviation warning lights standardised worldwide, or are there different requirements in different markets? And what are those requirements?
Stella Su, Vice Director of Sales, NANHUA:
Yes, they are generally standardised by ICAO and FAA and then there are some nationwide regulations depending on the country, but they’d still have to comply with these international standards.
ICAO and FAA standards present different characteristics. In fact, ICAO requires photometric tests while FAA checks the product in its entirety, including its materials, EMI, EMC, surge protection et cetera.
TowerXchange: What is the optimum balance between maximising visibility whilst minimising light pollution?
Stella Su, Vice Director of Sales, NANHUA:
This is a very interesting question and I think there are two sides to this. On one hand, different intensities of aviation lights have different vertical angles, and each angle will need to comply with strict intensity requirements to ensure that pilots can see it but the light won’t disturb any residential area nearby.
That said, the flash is about ten times brighter during daytime due to the reduced contrast. Therefore the intensity requirements during daylight are about 20,000cd in comparison to the nighttime when 2,000cd is sufficient and is the maximum to avoid light pollution.
TowerXchange: How do you ensure the long lifespan of your lighting systems to minimise maintenance and replacement costs?
Stella Su, Vice Director of Sales, NANHUA:
Nanhua uses LED light sources that last a minimum of fifty-thousand hours. Additionally, we use aluminium light bases to extend the light’s lifespan and protect it from corrosion.
TowerXchange: What warrantee is offered with your aviation warning light systems?
Stella Su, Vice Director of Sales, NANHUA:
Currently, we offer two years full warranty and three years of free maintenance and spare parts.
TowerXchange: How have your products been designed to ensure safe and correct mounting on tall structures?
Stella Su, Vice Director of Sales, NANHUA:
Every aviation obstruction light and bracket product should be tested for wind and vibration resistance to ensure its correct mounting and suitability.
TowerXchange: Please sum up how you would differentiate Shanghai Nanhua’s aviation warning light systems from your competitors’.
Stella Su, Vice Director of Sales, NANHUA:
Nanhua is a leading organisation which serves the global tower industry with top quality products in compliance with ICAO and FAA obstruction standards. Our packages include cable connections, controllers and light installation as well as a long lasting warranty and maintenance service.
We use high quality LED light sources whose lifespan is extremely long and that are virtually maintenance free. Nanhua is also very careful about its pricing as we know opex is an important component of the decision making process and we are confident our prices are quite competitive!
