A political consensus at the international level is still a long time coming despite the great urgency for effective climate protection. We should therefore now assume more national responsibility and quickly introduce a carbon tax. Other countries such as Great Britain, Sweden and Switzerland have long since done so.

The European elections once again made it clear that climate protection is becoming a central issue for more and more people Even after the elections, effective countermeasures by politicians are not yet in sight. This means that it is all the more important that companies take the initiative.

Year in, year out, Intersolar Europe is one of my top events. Last week, the international PV industry descended on Munich again, and the atmosphere was the best it has been in a long time.

The U.S. is one of SMA's most important sales markets and, in the estimation of the Managing Board, will make a significant contribution to the expected increase in sales and earnings in the second half of the year. This assessment was reinforced by my visit to the U.S. in mid-April.

The implementation of measures to reduce costs and increase sales is proceeding according to plan, and order intake is developing positively. The Managing Board believes that SMA is well on the way to achieving its revenue and earnings targets for 2019.

Today we published SMA’s results in 2018. It was a very challenging year that we had originally started with a...

Australia is one of the world’s most exciting and promising photovoltaic markets, which was once again confirmed in the course of a number of conversations with customers during my visit last week. In all probability, after its record year in 2018, the Australian PV market will significantly grow again to 4.4 gigawatts this year. In addition to photovoltaics, storage systems are becoming ever more important, not only for independent electricity supplies for homes but also, in particular, for the power plant segment.

Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden has initiated a worldwide movement with Fridays for Future, which each week reminds us adults anew that we finally have to act to prevent climate change and leave behind a planet for future generations that offers them a livelihood.