ASPİLSAN Enerji General Manager Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Turan Özdemir said that we are entering civilian products to increase the added value of our R&D knowledge and experience. Two examples of these are the portable energy storage systems called 'Turna' and 'Toy'.
Özdemir said that ASPİLSAN Enerji was established in 1974 to solve the energy needs of the army in order to solve the problems arising from the military embargoes imposed after the Cyprus Operation.
Stating that they work with the mission of meeting the needs of the army, Özdemir said:
"In the US, as in the rest of the world, great technologies are developed through R&D centres established with large budgets to solve the needs of armies. Since our establishment, we have gained significant design and production capabilities. Therefore, we are entering civilian products in order to increase the added value of the R&D knowledge and experience we have acquired. Two examples of these are the portable energy storage systems called "Turna" and "Toy". Turna is a smaller 0.6-kilowatt system, while our suitcase-type storage systems start at 1 kilowatt.
These products are designed based on batteries initially intended to meet the needs of military personnel on field duty. Afterwards, we realized that there was a need for such energy storage systems in camps, outdoor activities and disaster situations, and we decided to enter the market with these two products. The design is complete, now we are starting production."

Özdemir emphasized that they saw again with the recent earthquakes that there is a great need for such energy systems in disaster situations. He added that when mains electricity is cut off, basic needs such as communication and lighting become unmet. He also stated that these products provide users with the energy required to power both small and large systems with their USB charging, light source and internal inverter. We have two small portable products. One of them is a hand-held portable energy storage system called "Turna" and the other is a suitcase-type portable energy storage system called "Toy". Özdemir said that we will make versions of these at different scales and diversify them."
We are working to introduce our products to European and American markets.
Mentioning fixed energy storage systems with different categories, Özdemir shared the following information:
“We are trying to ensure that the wall-mounted energy storage system can meet the needs of a house. The systems will be integrated with renewable energy systems such as solar and wind, which will both improve the user's bill and use solar energy in the system. Thus, it will produce environmentally friendly energy.
We have started a journey to solve the needs of our army. We have achieved great gains in this journey. Considering the civilian market, we are actually talking about a larger market than the military market. When we say consumer electricity, this means a very large market. After this, our goal will be to show ASPILSAN technology and brand in larger markets with more civilian products.”
Özdemir stated that Far Eastern countries are dominant in the global energy storage systems market, from cells to products. He also added that although R&D is done in different places, approximately 40 percent of the world's lithium reserves in production are made in China, 20 percent in Japan and 18 percent in South Korea. He stated that roughly 80 percent of consumption was made in this region.
The USA is making great efforts to make large investments in this field and to change the regulations. Considering a recently studied issue, since there are few natural reserves related to such cell production in the USA, it has entered into a strategy such as limiting the export of second-hand electric vehicles abroad and meeting 40 per cent of the resources needed from recycling."
Stating that Türkiye, along with the European Union countries and America, has taken some measures against the superiority of the Far Eastern countries, Özdemir said that we are witnessing investments coming to our country in this sector. We consider the sensitivities of America and Europe on this issue as a market opportunity and are working to introduce our products to the European and American markets. We will soon complete our UL 1642 certification for our cell. In this way, we will receive the necessary certificate for the sale of our products to America. We are making a great effort to evaluate our products in export markets.
ASPİLSAN is in a very special place in Türkiye in terms of localization
Pointing out that ASPİLSAN is in a very special place in Turkey in terms of localization, Özdemir said that they went beyond the localization of electronic card design and software when designing these products.
Özdemir said that we classify the cells used in our products according to customer needs in terms of safety, cost and performance. Thus, by using our own cells or cells purchased from suppliers, we control the combined battery designs with electronic cards and manage them with software.
During this process, all engineering and many production items are carried out within ASPİLSAN. Beyond all of these, we turn our cylindrical cell in A28 18650 NMC chemistry into a battery from powder material. Therefore, we are talking about a design and production capability from start to finish. The number of companies that have this process that I have mentioned is very small. This entire process; represents a process that is made and managed by our own engineers and turned into a product in our own factories.” he said.