German awards celebrate school and industry energy‑saving innovations in 2026

Bundesumweltminister Carsten Schneider presented the winners of the nationwide Energiesparmeister competition in Berlin. The federal winner was the Christian‑Weise‑Gymnasium Zittau, with 16 state winners and a special prize for Staatliche Berufsschule Mindelheim. The ceremony handed out €50,000 in prize money to the schools, recognizing the participation of more than 440 schools and a record 55,000 students in climate‑protection projects.

At the same time, the “The smarter E Award 2026” announced 15 corporate winners across five categories: Photovoltaics, Energy Storage, E‑Mobility, Smart Integrated Energy and Outstanding Projects. Notable recipients included Goldbeck Solar for its automated mounting system HeliomatiX, Huawei for the SUN2000‑506KTL string inverter, International Power Supply for the EXERON CheckMate bidirectional inverter, Phenogy for sodium‑ion battery systems, Hager Energy for the edsn bidirectional wallbox, and Fluence for a decentralized battery‑storage portfolio in Ukraine. The awards highlighted technologies that advance renewable‑energy deployment, grid‑scale storage, intelligent networks and sustainable mobility.