Spotlighting pioneers, fostering innovation, and shaping the future: The Adolf Goetzberger Award enters its third edition. Once again, the award focuses on developments that combine technological excellence with practical utility and societal relevance.
Endowed with €25,000, the award recognizes personal contributions to pioneering concepts, prototypes, or processes in areas such as photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, energy storage, smart grid integration, and efficiency enhancement. Integrated, system-level solutions are explicitly encouraged. Crucially, innovations must address concrete technical and economic challenges and make a tangible contribution to the sustainable transformation of the energy system. Applications are now open online at: www.goetzbergerstiftung.de .
"Innovations driving the energy transition unleash their full potential where technology, practical application, and international exchange meet," explains Thomas Nordmann, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Adolf Goetzberger Foundation. "Through this award, we recognize individuals whose technical creativity and systems thinking are actively propelling the transformation of our energy landscape."
A major update awaits future award winners: The ceremony is moving from its previous venue at Banz Abbey to one of the world’s premier industry stages. For the first time, the Adolf Goetzberger Award will be presented in Munich on the second day of The smarter E Europe, Europe’s largest exhibition alliance for the energy industry. The ceremony will take place on June 8, 2027, at The smarter E Forum. "Relocating to Munich offers our award recipients an international stage," emphasizes Nordmann.
Submissions are welcome across the entire spectrum of solar energy applications. Beyond traditional developments, the award places a strong emphasis on cross-sector approaches. These include the intelligent combination of different technologies, digital control systems, advanced storage solutions (including Power-to-X), and heat pump integration.
An interdisciplinary jury will evaluate entries based on their level of innovation, technical maturity, implementation potential, and tangible benefits for the environment, energy security, and society.
The Adolf Goetzberger Award primarily targets European applicants but is also open to international submissions. The €25,000 prize money is funded through voluntary contributions from the solar industry and companions of Adolf Goetzberger.
In 2025, the award was presented to Dr. Heribert Schmidt for his development of the HERIC® inverter topology. In 2026, the foundation honored Dr. Ulrich Leibfried for the SOLINK PVT heat pump collector. Both achievements demonstrate the vital importance of practical, system-oriented innovations in line with the spirit of solar pioneer Adolf Goetzberger.
Applications for the 2027 Adolf Goetzberger Award are now open.
The application deadline is January 31, 2027.
The Adolf Goetzberger Foundation is dedicated to promoting science and research, environmental protection, and climate action, with a particular focus on solar energy. It fulfills this mission through the annual presentation of an award. Members of the foundation’s board of trustees include Prof. Dr. Andreas Bett, Markus Elsässer, Ursula Goetzberger, Dr. Winfried Hoffmann, and Thomas Nordmann.
For more information: www.goetzbergerstiftung.de
Adolf Goetzberger-Stiftung (represented by Stiftung für die Region)
Sparkasse Pforzheim Calw | Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts | Poststr. 3 | 75172 Pforzheim
Yvonne Alvarez | Tel.: +49 7231 99 2774
info@goetzbergerstiftung.de
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yvonne.alvarez@skpfcw.de
Solar Promotion GmbH | Postfach 100 170 | 75101 Pforzheim
Peggy Härter-Zilay | Tel.: +49 7231 58598 240
haerter-zilay@solarpromotion.com