A total of 2,662 exhibitors are taking part in The smarter E Europe trade fair in Munich in 2026. Although this is slightly fewer than last year’s figure of around 2,700, all 19 halls at the Munich exhibition center are fully booked. The 206,000 square meters of exhibition space are completely occupied, a fact noted with satisfaction by Markus Elsässer, managing director of organizer Solar Promotion. The company is co-organizing the event with Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe.

This year, the organizers have placed an even stronger emphasis on the concept of a fully renewable energy supply. “That has always been our vision,” Elsässer told journalists at the opening. Solar Promotion considers this year’s special exhibition, Renewables 24/7, not just another programme item, but “the absolute highlight” of the event—one that is strongly recommended to the roughly 100,000 expected visitors.

In his opening address, Jørgen Rystad pointed to a key reason why the renewable energy sector can already claim to be capable of delivering round-the-clock power globally—not just in the distant future: forecasts for photovoltaic expansion, including those from his own company, have repeatedly underestimated actual deployment, even when earlier projections were widely viewed as overly optimistic. Few would have anticipated the volumes achieved last year; according to SolarPower Europe, 664 GW of new solar capacity was installed globally. A similar trend has been observed in battery storage, where deployment has also consistently exceeded expectations. Rystad’s projections for onshore wind have largely proved accurate, while offshore wind has so far lagged behind.

Study on the energy transition

The availability of generation capacity is not the limiting factor. Photovoltaics in particular have consistently exceeded expectations in terms of cost per kilowatt-hour—or, more precisely, has fallen below them. These developments underpin a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), commissioned by The smarter E to provide a scientific foundation for the special exhibition. The report, “Cost-Optimal Transformation of the German Energy System by 2045,” is an updated version of a study first published in 2021 and continuously revised since, most recently in late 2024 with modelling at German state level.

Based on their extensive dataset, lead authors Charlotte Senkpiel and Christoph Kost outlined at the opening why they consider the “Dunkelflaute” period of low wind and solar output to be a manageable challenge. According to Kost, its impact on electricity pricing is “not particularly significant,” as it relates to only around 1% of hours per year.

From a technical perspective, the study’s 2045 scenarios—aligned with Germany’s climate neutrality target—assume around 140 GW of dispatchable capacity, roughly two-thirds of it hydrogen-based. This represents only about 15% of total installed capacity, which would exceed 900 GW due to extensive electrification. As these dispatchable plants would operate only when needed, around 90% of annual electricity generation—well over 1,600 TWh—would be supplied by wind and solar power.

It was therefore fitting that, following Solar Promotion, the German PV association BSW-Solar also presented its assessment, with which it warned of regulatory barriers, particularly for battery storage systems, and reiterated its call for improved rather than weakened market conditions.

BSW-Solar CEO Carsten Körnig highlighted several positive developments, most notably that photovoltaics now account for 19% of net electricity generation, making it Germany’s second-largest power source after wind. However, echoing recent concerns, he warned against measures that could slow further expansion, including the federal government’s proposed “grid package” and planned reductions in remuneration for small rooftop systems. While expansion rates have met targets in recent years, he stressed that the pace must increase significantly to achieve Germany’s climate goals—and to realise a “renewables 24/7” energy system.