Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Enslin, the relatively young solar industry has already experienced some ups and downs. How has BayWa r.e. handled this?

Friedhelm Enslin: In our industry, political discussions and dependencies have repeatedly led to uncertainties. Our strength is that we have always been able to find answers at any time. In the early phases of the company, no one really knew how to install photovoltaics and what it actually was. This is where our engineers were needed, who could explain and technically implement it. There were also many regulatory requirements that we had to solve particularly with the energy suppliers. Especially at a time when everything was new and there were many uncertainties, good networks with suppliers were important. Both end customers and installers needed courage to take on the topic. Therefore, reliability and trust were all the more important. We have maintained these values to this day. An important competence also stems from the beginnings of photovoltaics: Because there were no reasonable solutions for getting the modules onto the roof, we developed a mounting system. We have also succeeded in offering the full range: from small systems for the small craftsman to large systems for the specialized PV company. This breadth is still one of our strengths.

Wirtschaftsforum: Did you have to do a lot of convincing?

Friedhelm Enslin: Yes, absolutely. For example, when the topic of self-consumption came up. Previously, the calculation was simple: you fed electricity into the grid and received a certain monetary amount for it. Calculating the self-consumption of electricity is much more difficult, and the savings change with the electricity price. Also, when the first storage systems came on the market, we had to work hard to convince others to trust these models. But we were always able to derive new business models from the changes.

Wirtschaftsforum: What does your product portfolio look like in detail?

Friedhelm Enslin: We are not just suppliers of solar modules and inverters, but a system house, so we combine the components in a variety of configurations and for different applications. All projects are somewhat unique, as the roofs are different and the needs of the customers are different. We design a tailor-made project. To this end, our sister company novotegra develops innovative products in the area of mounting systems. Currently, we are dealing with sector coupling in the commercial sector. Here, the industry is still gaining experience.

Wirtschaftsforum: What topics will particularly occupy you in the future?

Friedhelm Enslin: We are in the phase where it is about bringing the topic of sector coupling into all areas. We know that it is technically feasible and can be implemented in terms of products. The challenge is to also reach the critics and convince them that sector coupling can be successful. Then many things will become self-propelling. Our goal is not only to increase trust in electric mobility and heat pumps, but also in storage technologies and smart energy management systems, with which we can stabilize the power grid. So, the question for us is how we can create trust that solar energy can be used more efficiently in all sectors without lacking it anywhere and, for example, only having to take cold showers.

Wirtschaftsforum: What is your personal motivation for what you do?

Friedhelm Enslin: For me, it was important even during my physics studies to do things that are meaningful. At that time, I was already dealing with renewable energies. Bringing solar energy to every house for a sustainable future, that is my motivation. I go home every day knowing that I have delivered components for PV systems again, which will produce renewable electricity for the next 30 or 40 years. The importance of the energy transition is completely undisputed as part of sustainable economic activity. I was recently in China, where I became even more aware: If so many people want to continue consuming, this can only be done with sustainable ideas in the field of energy, but also other topics. We should all continue to pursue this principle so that future generations also have something from our environment.