Intersolar Europe 2022: Great Success at Messe München

After three successful exhibition days and two conference days at the International Congress Center München (ICM) which provided intensive discussions, captivating debates and product innovations, Intersolar Europe, the world’s largest exhibition for the solar industry, can look back on a successful event.

An intelligent, sustainable and integrated energy mix consisting entirely of renewables available 24/7, all year round: Intersolar Europe shares this vision for a clean and secure energy future with the three other exhibitions ees Europe, Power2Drive Europe and EM-Power Europe. These events took place in parallel in Munich as part of The smarter E Europe – the continent’s largest platform for the energy industry. The outcome is exceedingly positive: 1,356 exhibitors from 46 countries presented their products and innovations. More than 65,000 visitors from 149 countries came to Munich to learn what’s new – that is 33 percent more than at the last regular event before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019.

PV is booming around the world – Germany is no exception

Photovoltaics (PV) is booming around the world: At the end of 2021, 940 gigawatts (GW) had already been installed, which means that PV has more capacity than all other types of renewable energies taken together. By 2025, the total capacity is set to be two terawatts, according to the Global Market Outlook for Solar Power presented by SolarPower Europe, the European solar association, at the Intersolar Europe Conference.

Within Europe, Germany remains the most important market for PV, followed by Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, France and Italy. The government gives momentum: The German government plans to increase the installed PV capacity from just over 60 GW today to at least 215 GW by 2030, and at least 400 GW by 2040. Almost one in six German homeowners is planning to install a solar system to generate electricity and/or heat over the next twelve months. This is the result of a YouGov representative survey carried out on behalf of the German Solar Association (BSW-Solar) among over 1,000 building owners at the beginning of May 2022.

Exhibition highlights trends and shows that the industry and the technology are ready

Intersolar Europe 2022 brings industry trends to the fore: The combination of PV and storage systems is gaining traction, with smart control technology for charging e-cars or feeding electricity into the grid playing a strong part. Some technologies, such as agricultural PV, floating PV, or building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) have moved out of their niches because they can contribute to maximizing space and cushioning usage conflicts. As far as business models are concerned, Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) are gaining importance. Direct electricity supply contracts help finance the construction and operation of PV installations and decarbonizing the energy industry. All in all, Intersolar Europe 2022 made one thing clear: The technology is ready, the industry is thriving – the only obstacles now are the lack of qualified workers, supply shortages for materials and components, as well as regulatory hurdles.

Feedback from our exhibitors: Extraordinary benefit, remarkable enthusiasm

Exhibitors were excited about the first regular Intersolar Europe since 2019: “It’s great to be back! Our company always gets a lot out of participating at the exhibition, but this year was something else,” says Oliver Beckel, Head of Marketing and Communications at Hanwha Qcells, a PV manufacturer. The huge number of visitors to our booth showed how popular the event is. The enthusiasm we saw among our customers was striking.” Michael Taft, CEO of BayWa r.e. AG, also looks back on three successful days of the exhibition: “For BayWa r.e., Intersolar Europe is undoubtedly one of the key international industry exhibitions. The three days were an incredible success for us once again this year. We were able to present our innovations and discuss the latest developments in the solar industry, though the best part was the opportunity to get together with our customers, suppliers and colleagues in person; nothing beats face-to-face contact."

Upcoming event: Conference on agrivoltaics

Conexio-PSE, a subsidiary of Solar Promotion GmbH, is organizing the international hybrid conference AgriVoltaics2022, which is set to take place online and in person in the Italian city of Piacenza in the Emilia Romagna region from June 15–17. The conference underlines the importance of stepping up the exchange of information and experience on agricultural PV at the European and international level for getting this comparatively young technology off the ground.

Intersolar Europe 2023 will be held from June 14–16 as part of The smarter E Europe at Messe München.