Safety distance between solar cell installations and critical radio services at airports

Authors:

  • Karina Fors
  • Sara Linder
  • Kia Wiklundh

Publish date: 2022-11-16

Report number: FOI-R--5350--SE

Pages: 67

Written in: Swedish

Keywords:

  • solar cell installation
  • EM interference
  • airport
  • EMI
  • radio
  • communication
  • navigation

Abstract

Previously, there have been examples of solar cell installations interfering with radio communication systems, such as Rakel and cellular systems. On airports, there are a number of critical systems for flight safety that depend on radio. It is of the utmost importance that the operation of these receiver systems is not affected by emissions from, for example, solar cell installations. In the report, the protective distance between solar cell installations and receiver systems to avoid negative interference is calculated. The systems analysed are communication and navigation systems. In the analyses, emissions from the solar cell installation are modelled according to the EMC requirements that apply within the EU or with stricter requirements that may be used near an airport. A safety margin is also included in the calculations. For most of the receiver systems, requirements for maximum levels of interference signals from a Swedish standard, SS 44710 12, is used in the analysis.