POWER PLAYERS
It’s useful to have a USP in plant & tool manufacture. LIFOS has risen to the challenge with its new ‘Fort’ battery storage, as well as a creditable mission to re-use and recycle components.
A
fter an impressive debut at EHS 2023, it was a surprise to learn that LIFOS is
still something of a start-up, with a product that has yet to launch. As I was to discover, there’s much more to its ‘Fort’ battery storage system than a distinctive lime-green colourway. We find out more in due course, but first I wanted to hear about the company history and the diverse backgrounds of its management team. MD Adrian Williams gets the ball rolling…
“The LIFOS brand was started around six years ago as part of my old business, which was a solar energy company,” he begins. “We were working with the company producing our LIFOS ‘Go’ batteries. Lithium battery technology was underdeveloped at the time, and they were not quite suited to our desired performance specifications. However, we put in some tweaks, had some input on the battery management system and the Go battery eventually became very successful in the leisure sector.
“In 2019 I had an idea for a big box product that could be hybridised, operated in off-grid environments and be rapidly deployed. We made our first prototype in a plywood enclosure, we bought the cells and we created the BMS. It was about as Heath Robinson-esque as you might imagine, but it proved the concept.
“I had served my time in the solar sector, so in 2021 I sold the business to Salop Holdings, the owner of Simmonsigns.
They were already a customer of the solar business and they had the manufacturing capability, but it was also the case that the big box product needed a lot of focus. Part of the deal was that the original LIFOS brand would be removed from the company, a new company would be formed, and I am now a partner of that business with the owners of Salop Holdings.
While the Go batteries are still offered, Fort will be the focus for LIFOS moving forward. How is the company now structured?
“Simmonsigns has some incredibly technical people within their ranks, which is a benefit in terms of CAD, material designers, structural engineers and general wiring specialists. The support of the Simmonsigns and Salop Holding teams as been invaluable, and working alongside the LIFOS management team of Richard Atwall and Chris Wintle, we have our own lithium chemist Jack Blincow. He’s only young, but he has worked in nano-tech right up to big scale projects. So we’ve been able to combine all of those skillsets into our Fort product.”
I imagine that many of the basic components of battery storage systems are fairly common to all such products. How is Fort different?
“A lot of other manufacturers tend to use the same internal components. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it does limit the scope of the product. Along with everything else that is either made by us, or for us, our software is entirely bespoke. Take Victron inverters, for instance. The software is generic by default, whereas our software is specifically designed for off-grid hybrid power applications.”
LIFOS itself is a small company for the time being. What do your colleagues bring to the business?
EHS visitor feedback led to a redesign of the Fort base.
“My two colleagues will be instrumental in how the company will succeed or fail.
Richard had a business in Hong Kong making solar home power stations, almost exclusively for the African market. Aside from a great knowledge of a very relatable product, he also has experience of production at scale. Chris was previously a director at Forest Green Rovers, although his background is energy and sustainability. He worked in wind and solar power at Ecotricity and launched the green side of the business at N Power. Chris also helped to develop our seven-year switch program, which is a key element of the Fort package.”
Fort will inevitably take the company in different directions, namely the construction and events sectors. How is it designed to meet such markets?
“The customers for Fort are likely to be plant hire firms serving those sectors. We have been looking at how their users consume energy and how our products can mesh with their gensets and other power sources. We also considered our customers’ requirements. With the solar panels stored
30 Executive Hire News - May 2023
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