RHENAC SPORTS LED, part of RHENAC GreenTec AG, puts fully automatic CLS - LED turf lighting system into operation at Schalke O4
In modern football stadiums, the regular supply of additional light is indispensable for maintaining the quality of the pitch. An intact pitch not only minimises the risk of injury, but also influences the passing accuracy, ball speed, jump height and stability of the players. In order to optimise the care of the turf, RHENAC GreenTec AG has therefore developed the CLS (Complete Light Spectrum) light technology and elaborated it in the fully automatic turf lighting system R-BL-1750, which has now been put into operation at FC Schalke 04's VELTINS Arena after a two-year project period. The R-BL-1750 can supply the football turf with CLS-LED growth light for regeneration all year round. If required, irrigation and nutrient supply is also possible.
Where others fail, Rhenac Sports LED excels
The system is equipped with various sensors that record the condition of the turf and environmental influences and make them available for evaluation in a digital logbook. The sensors record all parameters that are important for lawn growth, such as heat requirements, nutrient saturation, soil moisture and temperature, and the ambient climate. The evaluated data shows the user which stress factors should be reduced.
After evaluating this data, the CLS control system can provide the grass with individual light spectra, appropriate light intensity and infrared heat, automatically or according to the greenkeeper's specifications. Lawn development can be controlled specifically and zone-wise, as there are various care programmes for length growth, leaf branching, root optimisation, lawn drying, prevention of fungal diseases and others. The programmes are constantly being expanded in cooperation with the Technical University of Munich. Boost functions for faster regeneration or anti-stress programmes round off the functions.
The R-BL 1,750 consists of a steel main beam with a span of more than 80 metres, which can be moved along the lawn on rails at a speed of more than 12 m/min. Twelve folding B-beams and six continuously adjustable C-beams, equipped with approximately 1,400 LED lighting modules and a total of more than 100,000 Osram LED luminaires, can illuminate a total of 1,750 m² simultaneously. The entire installation can also be infinitely lifted from its lowest operating position of 1.50 m to a maximum of 4.65 m, allowing buses to pass underneath. Two 2-section R-BL-1,750 plants were built for the entire field, which can regenerate a total of 3,500 m² of turf simultaneously.
The R-BL can create the conditions for the regeneration and growth of sports turf 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The system is modular and can be adapted to the customer's wishes.
The R-BL not only optimises the care of the turf, but also reduces operating costs by using energy-efficient LED lights in comparison to conventional lighting systems. Embedded in the stadium's building management system, it can also help optimise the use of heating and cooling systems around turf maintenance.
Technical data:
- Approx. 190 tonnes total weight - distributed over two subsystems
- Integrated hydraulics lift the system into its parking position at a height of over 4.60 m
- 2 main beams with a span of > 80 m each
- 24 automatically retractable B-beams
- 60 LED light beams - individually movable in the axis - parked under the main beam
- 2,755 LED light modules with individually adjustable light formulas
- More than 200,000 OSRAM LEDs installed in the 2,755 light modules
- 420 IR heating systems
- More than 100 digital actuators
