PENN YAN, N.Y. — Federal aviation researchers picked the Finger Lakes community of Penn Yan for a first-of-its-kind test site on solar airport lighting. If it works, FAA officials say it could improve safety and efficiency at small rural airports.

A small hillside airport might not seem like the kind of place where the future of airport safety might be determined, but the Penn Yann Regional Airport is the spot chosen by the FAA. Researchers are testing out the merits of a solar lighting system. Penn Yan is the only airport in the United States right now where it’s happening.

“There may be relatively very near-term use on taxi ways before runways,” said Ryan King, who runs research and development for FAA’s technology branch. “Primarily we’re looking at improving airport safety.”

The small Finger Lakes airport is not a particularly busy one. It is busy enough, and there is ample space to test the effectiveness of solar lighting on the edge of runways and taxiways, and windsocks and signs.

But why Penn Yan? A place where the sun doesn’t always shine, and where in the winter months, it can be cold and dreary.

“Where the sun doesn't shine for long periods of time during the winter, there's cold temperatures,” said King. “We want to assess their performance in that environment and see how they perform.”

The FAA also plans similar tests in Arizona and Washington state, where climates are vastly different.

The research team is actually based in the New Jersey/Philadelphia area. The test setup allows them to collect data remotely. They can see the test site through airport cameras. Pilots would be able to control the lights at night when air traffic is much slower. Researchers say solar lighting is cheaper to install and cheaper to maintain — compared to grid-based lighting systems with underground cables and big electric bills. 

The big question remains - how effective is it?

“As much as we want this to operate perfectly, we’re seeing that, it's a real-world environment and on certain days with not a lot of sunlight, we're certainly seeing their performance go down a little bit,” said King.

FAA researchers say some of the solar-powered lights could have uses at larger airports, but for now, their potential use is geared toward smaller airports, many of which currently do not have lighting.

King says the data collected from the test will provide more answers. Results are expected next year.

“Everything we do is to improve safety around airports,” he said.