U.S. President Joe Biden has invited 40 international heads of government to a virtual climate summit he is hosting tomorrow, on Earth Day. An important initiative, because only swift joint action can stop the increasingly dramatic global warming to which the recently published UN climate report 2020 again attests.
SMA generated over one billion euros in sales and doubled its operating result in 2020 despite the coronavirus crisis – as the Managing Board forecast at the start of the crisis. We put three questions about this to Chief Executive Officer Jürgen Reinert.
A strange year in every respect is coming to an end. The global corona crisis has presented us all with unexpected challenges in recent months, which had to be mastered from one day to the next. In the process, however, we have also discovered opportunities and become acquainted with completely new - digital - ways of working together with customers, suppliers and partners. We would like to sincerely thank you for your trust in SMA, especially in a situation that is very challenging for all of us. Let us continue to drive the energy transition forward together in the coming year.
Can it also work digitally? As planning for this year’s Christmas party approached and it became clear that there was no way we would be able to meet “for real,” we were skeptical. Is it possible to get into the festive spirit when you’ve been sitting in front of the screen all day? But a few rounds of brainstorming later it was clear that this could work.
Following an all-night marathon meeting, the heads of state and government of the European Union agreed early on Friday morning to cut the greenhouse gas emissions in EU countries by at least 55 percent by 2030, against to 1990. This is a step forward, but not a breakthrough in order to avoid climate collapse.
In 2019, there were 358 wars and conflicts worldwide. Often involved are countries from which we obtain oil, gas and coal. In addition to the fight against climate change, this is another important reason to make the world less dependent on fossil fuels as quickly as possible.
SMA is looking for PV pioneers who laid the foundation for a sustainable, decentralized energy supply with their PV systems many years ago. With their enthusiasm for photovoltaics, they paved the way for today’s energy transition. All PV system operators who installed an SMA solar inverter or battery inverter in the early years of photovoltaics and are still producing solar power today can participate in the photo campaign. SMA will be giving away 15 solar outdoor packages. The closing date for all entries is December 31, 2020.
After a long break, people around the world will again take to the streets at Fridays for Future protests for more climate protection tomorrow. This is very much a good thing. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the climate crisis must not be allowed to slip out of view for politics, business and society. On the contrary: the coronavirus crisis has shown what is possible when all players pull together. We must now use this momentum to stop climate change.
SMA posted a marked year-on-year improvement in sales and earnings in the first half of the year. The Managing Board continues to stand by its targets for the year. We put three questions about this to Chief Executive Officer Jürgen Reinert.
Bernhard Voll wants nothing less than to make a lasting improvement to people’s lives with PV systems. So it’s useful that the SMA expert for PV power plants has a lot of experience and knows all the pitfalls in the implementation of PV projects. Besides this, he is calling for a look at other fields of application to make more diverse use of inverters. He already has some specific ideas.