In contrast to normal spray painting, electrostatic processes offer advantages especially in terms of economic benefits:

• Aligning the electrical field or the spray stream to the grounded workpiece results in less overspray.
  
  This means:
  • less consumption of paint
  • lower solvent emissions
  • less accumulation of paint sludge
  • Low level of contamination in the cabine and coating system with overspray, i.e. lower post-processing and reject levels as well as fewer system failures
• because of electrostatic wrap, paint material also reaches workpiece sides that are not turned directly to the spraying element. This is associated with:
  • improved possibility for automating the painting process. Furthermore, less flowthrough of compressed air is required, which saves energy.
  • Savings on coating time, i.e. higher system capacity

The undesirable effects and limits of electrostatic painting must also be considered, however.
The main ones to mention are

• overcoating or danger of runs on the edges of workpieces because of the concentration of the electrical field there.
• Insufficient paint drop deposition in electrically shielded workpiece areas (Faraday cages).

More info (German)