SMA Celebrates Its 35th Anniversary and Inaugurates the Günther Cramer Solar Academy
Under the motto “35 Years of SMA — A Vision Becomes Reality,” SMA Solar Technology AG (SMA) celebrated its 35th anniversary today with numerous guests from the worlds of business, academia and politics. At the same time, the SMA Solar Academy was renamed the Günther Cramer Solar Academy. This new name and a new exhibition is SMA’s permanent recognition of the distinguished achievement of the company founders Günther Cramer, Peter Drews, Reiner Wettlaufer and Professor Werner Kleinkauf in creating a globally decentralized and renewable energy supply.
“Günther Cramer always dared to go one step further than others, creating a life’s work that shows us the way into the future,” said SMA Chief Executive Officer Pierre-Pascal Urbon. “With infectious enthusiasm, he convinced politicians and the public all over the world of the vision of a decentralized and renewable energy supply. The SMA Solar Academy represents this very conviction, for this building is proof that a self-sufficient supply with renewable energy is feasible. Without SMA’s technological expertise, this success would not have been possible.”
Since its founding in 1981, SMA has grown from a small engineering firm specializing in control systems into a global market and technology leader in photovoltaics. During this time, SMA has repeatedly set trends in the field of photovoltaics and contributed to the global spread of renewable energies. “With courage, perseverance, expertise and passion, Günther Cramer, Peter Drews and Reiner Wettlaufer as well as their mentor, Professor Werner Kleinkauf, laid the foundation for SMA’s extraordinary success story,” said Urbon. “Their vision of a globally 100% decentralized and renewable energy supply is today becoming a reality in more and more countries.” He asserts that SMA will benefit from further developments. “Even today, it is clear that the low cost of photovoltaics and the digitization of the energy industry mean that traditional business models are losing their significance. New business models are based on the network effect of specialists. As a specialist in PV applications, SMA is an important point of contact in this new world. It is for this very reason that we are entering into strategic partnerships. SMA’s PV system technology will be a crucial factor in the success of the system of the future — in fact, SMA will be an integral part of the new energy market.”
