Driving a 240 ton truck at 60 km/hour in the dark on a dirt road can be a dangerous business. When the road may change daily and pedestrians are in the vicinity, the danger multiplies many fold. Similar problems exist where pedestrians encounter railways, conveyors and machinery at industrial sites all over Australia.
Those are some of the challenges facing many mining and processing plant operators around Australia for which Orion Solar Pty Ltd has helped to provide solutions. During 2006, the minerals and energy industry has been the largest market sector for Orion’s growing business and the demand is not slowing down.
Orion’s solar powered LED marking lights are unique in the world of safety, roadway, rail and hazard marking. They are rugged, requiring no maintenance and can be installed in minutes. They charge during the day, even in cloudy conditions and turn on automatically at night. Orion’s one mile and two mile safety lights are frequently used to mark the correct route for trucks to negotiate, such as by Origin Energy at the Jingemla Oil Field in WA. Similar safety marking applications were installed during 2006 at the operations of Placer Dome, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
Orion also supplies solar powered pedestrian crossing lights, either push button operated, with centralised control or automatic operation by motion sensor. Coal and Allied’s Mount Thorley Operations installed Orion’s R820C pedestrian crossings to improve safety at their open cut mine near Singleton. The R820C is engineered to operate reliably with no scheduled maintenance for up to five years.
Similar solar powered pedestrian crossing lights were supplied for use at the Alcan Gove bauxite and alumina refinery in Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory.
All of Orion’s solar powered lights are self-contained, requiring no trenching, cabling or power connections. Installation is therefore quick and cost effective and location changes can easily be made later.
Orion Solar Pty Ltd specialises in the supply and support of solar powered LED lighting products for aviation, marine, roadway and transit markets and is the Australian distributor for Carmanah Technologies of Canada.