What dilemma in moving between lithium and lead battery chemistries?

Now in its fourth decade of operations, Sunlight is one of the titans of the lead batteries business and a major international figure in the industry.

The Greece-based group has been a dynamic European battery industry player that has established itself as an international force to be reckoned with — driven in no small part by hitting the acquisitions trail with a vengeance just a few years ago.

There appears to be no looking back and Sunlight is keen to show it is a first among equals of battery manufacturers. “Sunlight has been implementing a robust expansion plan with significant M&As around the world,” Deligiannakis says.

“Our objective and driving force for expansion is to increase or production capacity by adding manufacturing facilities to our existing units.”

The group also had in mind to expand its geographical reach in terms of sales and after-sales services.

Ongoing is the ambition to further deepen the vertical integration of the company by incorporating as much of the production processes in-house as possible.

Deligiannakis acknowledges the group’s roots in the lead battery business — which he says is the oldest and most widely used rechargeable battery technology that has supported electrification for more than a century to date and has helped the global economy grow.

Despite this illustrious past, he says Sunlight sees lead as approaching the limits of its technical capabilities while new technologies have — and will continue to emerge — as research into more cost-effective, sustainable and eco-friendly energy storage technologies continues apace.

“However, there are definitely aspects of lead-acid that still render this battery technology commercially vi- able in terms of the cost and performance related to their intended use.”

Understanding the characteristics of competing battery chemistries and their suitability for different applications is key their future deployment, Deligiannakis says.

“This means that lead still has a future, albeit not necessarily across all variations and applications.

“It falls on all of us, the industry experts and leaders, to develop the best battery types for each application, considering all pertinent factors, as this will continue adding value to our operations and addressing the expectations and needs of customers and markets in the future.”

For Sunlight, the company has opted to forge ahead in lead with a focus on manufacturing products for a single application: flooded motive power.

Deligiannakis says the rationale is