Quick answer: a tethered drone lighting system can support long-duration work, but “tethered” does not mean that power planning disappears. The buyer must specify the complete chain: site supply or generator, voltage and frequency, continuous and peak input, conversion equipment, ground station, tether, aircraft, lamp, control equipment, fuel or battery reserve, and shutdown procedure. Lamp wattage is only one load in that chain. A published runtime is useful for screening, but it needs test conditions before it can become a shift plan.

UNITED UAV lists compact battery-equipped and generator-option products as well as larger systems with published long-duration figures in its tethered lighting drone collection. The best choice depends less on the word “continuous” than on the customer's operating pattern: a short emergency setup, an eight-hour construction shift, an overnight repair, a multi-day response camp, or a rental unit that must work at sites with different electrical standards.

Map the Whole Energy Path

Draw the system from left to right before accepting a quotation. Start with the available source: utility mains, site distribution, portable generator, vehicle-supported supply, or a battery-equipped tether box. Continue through protective devices, cables, connectors, conversion equipment, ground station, tether, aircraft, light, speaker, camera, and controller. For every step, record voltage, frequency, continuous load, peak or starting load, connector, grounding, ingress protection, cable limit, and owner.

The reviewed product pages publish lamp ratings such as 90 W, 150 W, 570 W, 600 W, and 1000 W. Those are not total system-consumption figures. Motors, conversion losses, electronics, tether transmission, payload controls, batteries, and auxiliaries add load. Do not size a generator or site circuit by copying the lamp number into an electrical schedule.

Three Common Power Approaches

Battery-equipped tether box for a defined period

The UG2LE page publishes a 150 W lamp, 20,000 lm, a 12 m working height, about 1,500 m² coverage, and a tether box with a built-in lithium battery described as providing approximately three hours. This can be relevant when a team needs a compact setup or an initial operating period without a running generator. The page also lists an optional generator configuration.

“Approximately three hours” should not be used as an unconditional endurance guarantee. Ask for the test load, starting state of charge, battery age, ambient temperature, wind, working height, reserve policy, and whether any camera or speaker function was active. Define the minimum return or shutdown reserve and the recharge plan. For emergency procurement, ask how the battery is stored, inspected, transported, and replaced.

Generator-supported field operation

Compact models including the UG1LA are listed in packages with or without a generator. The ULP2800 option page publishes 2.3 kW rated output, 2.4 kW peak, 220/230 V, 50/60 Hz, 10 A, a 4 L tank, and up to four hours. These are generator fields, not a declaration that every connected aircraft requires or accepts those exact conditions.

A generator plan must address load margin, earthing, distribution protection, fuel type and quality, refuelling interval, hot-refuelling prohibition, ventilation, carbon monoxide, exhaust direction, noise, rain protection, maintenance, spares, and local fire rules. Confirm whether the quoted generator is compatible with the exact aircraft and destination electrical standard. Never improvise an adapter or grounding method from a marketing photograph.

Long-duration tethered operation

Several larger pages publish extended duration: UG6LS and UG7L variants list at least 90 hours, while UG5L+ and UG7LV list up to or at least 100 hours depending on the model page. These figures can help shortlist systems for prolonged work, but a shift plan must still state the supporting power source, fuel or energy assumption, inspection intervals, weather, crew rotation, consumables, and permitted maintenance stops.

Long-duration capability does not mean unattended operation. The aircraft, tether, ground unit, power source, exclusion zone, and weather need monitoring. The operating team must know what triggers a controlled descent, emergency shutdown, or relocation. Ask the supplier for the applicable manual and maintenance schedule for the exact delivered configuration.

Define a Duty Cycle, Not Just a Runtime

A duty cycle explains what happens over time. For example: transport and site inspection; 15 minutes for equipment staging; launch and stabilisation; two hours of illumination; a controlled landing and inspection; refuelling or battery change; relaunch; and final shutdown. Include a weather pause, a fault response, and the point at which the crew stops rather than consuming the reserve.

For each phase, assign staff and acceptance conditions. The operator controls the aircraft. A trained person manages the generator or electrical source. The site lead protects the exclusion zone and cable route. The lighting lead checks aim and work-plane conditions. If the drone carries a camera or speaker, add the responsible communications or data owner. Multi-hour operation is an organisational task as much as an energy calculation.

Specify the Destination Electrical Environment

International buyers should provide the destination country, site voltage, frequency, socket or industrial connector standard, earthing arrangement, expected ambient temperature, elevation, and whether the equipment will operate from permanent distribution or a portable generator. If a supplier offers more than one generator or power package, the quotation should identify the exact variant and all required conversion and protective equipment.

Also state whether other equipment will share the supply. Lighting, chargers, radios, computers, pumps, or tools can change generator loading and introduce noise or fault risks. A qualified person should approve temporary distribution. The aircraft product page is not an electrical design document.

Separate Working Height From Cable Length

The reviewed pages publish working heights from 10 m to 50 m depending on model. An exact tether length was not verified on those pages. A purchaser must not assume the cable equals the working-height number or that the full physical length is an approved operating height. Routing, bend limits, ground-unit placement, wind, obstacles, and regulatory conditions all affect the usable arrangement.

Ask the supplier to state the supplied tether length, approved working envelope, cable mass and handling method, bend and abrasion limits, inspection criteria, and replacement process. Include cable protection and a clean route in the site plan. A damaged or poorly routed tether is both a power and flight-safety concern.

Calculate Logistics at the Kit Level

Do not plan transport from a single “weight” field unless its scope is clear. A complete deployment may include aircraft, lighting module, tether box, cable, controller, generator, fuel container, battery, chargers, tools, spares, extinguishing equipment, mats, barriers, and cases. Some reviewed large-model pages present comparison-table and body-weight figures that use different undefined scopes. Obtain a packing list with net and shipping weights before choosing a vehicle, crew lift method, or freight service.

Portability also includes case dimensions, wheel or handle design, setup surface, number of operators, and the route from vehicle to operating point. A smaller lamp model may be the more useful system when access is difficult, while a larger model may reduce the number of units required in an open zone. Only a site and illumination plan can resolve that tradeoff.

Build Conservative Energy Reserves

Set reserve rules before deployment. For battery-supported operation, define the minimum state of charge for launch and the shutdown reserve. For generators, define fuel reserve, refuelling trigger, spare fuel, service interval, and a second source when loss of light would create unacceptable risk. Keep published maximum duration separate from the operational duration approved by the buyer.

Environmental conditions can reduce margin. Temperature affects batteries and engines; elevation affects combustion engines and aircraft performance; wind increases aircraft power demand; dust and rain affect equipment and connectors. Ask which component each environmental rating covers. A page-published rain level is not automatically an IP code, and a product IP rating does not necessarily cover an external generator or every connector.

Plan Normal and Abnormal Shutdown

The crew needs a normal sequence for lowering the aircraft, switching the light, isolating power, cooling the generator, inspecting the tether, and packing the system. It also needs abnormal actions for a power fault, tether warning, unstable flight, communication loss, sudden wind, precipitation, generator alarm, fuel leak, cable damage, or intrusion into the exclusion zone.

Confirm whether the selected system provides a transition or reserve behaviour if the primary ground source fails. Do not assume that a battery inside one product family exists in every model. Test the documented response at a safe height during acceptance, within the manufacturer's procedure.

Run a Load and Endurance Acceptance Test

1. Verify the delivered model, serials, options, cable, ground equipment, generator or battery, and manuals.
2. Measure or confirm the site supply and protective arrangement with qualified personnel.
3. Record ambient temperature, wind, elevation, fuel or battery state, and planned working height.
4. Launch, stabilise, aim the lamp, and verify the work-area requirement without exceeding published limits.
5. Operate for a representative duty cycle while recording alarms, energy use, inspections, and interruptions.
6. Test controlled shutdown and the documented source-failure response.
7. Inspect and document the tether, connectors, aircraft, light, and ground equipment after landing.

If a contract depends on minimum lux, use calibrated measurements at agreed grid points. A coverage-area claim without a published lux threshold is not enough. The companion guide to testing worksite illumination separately from aircraft visibility provides additional planning context.

Power Questions for a Quote Request

• What are the exact input voltage, frequency, continuous load, peak load, and connector for this configuration?
• Does lamp wattage exclude aircraft, tether-box, conversion, speaker, camera, and charging loads?
• What power source and conditions support the published duration?
• What battery capacity, chemistry, storage, charging, reserve, and replacement rules apply?
• What generator model, grounding, ventilation, fuel, service, and refuelling rules apply?
• What tether length is supplied, and what working envelope is approved?
• What is included in the quoted system and shipping weight?
• What maintenance and inspection intervals apply during a long shift?

To narrow the power package, send UNITED UAV the destination country, application, illuminated area, working height, shift length, available voltage and frequency, generator or battery preference, weather and elevation, camera or speaker needs, transport limits, and quantity. Review the available lighting drone models, then request a configuration-specific quotation. The result should identify the complete energy path and duty cycle, not only a lamp rating.