The Triumph of the Sun
Once again this year, the cry of “O’zapft is” rang out in Munich. Yet on a completely different level, it has always been “O’zapft”.
And this “O’zapft” is very old indeed – as old as life on this planet – and, above all, it is far more important than the Munich Oktoberfest – even if some people in Bavaria might not be too keen to hear that.
No life without the sun
The sun sends us around 15,000 times more energy than the whole of humanity currently consumes. All over the world, solar energy is now on the rise. Yet just three decades ago, anyone who had a solar panel system installed on their roof was laughed at. But solar energy, together with all other renewables (wind, hydropower, bioenergy and geothermal energy), has now overtaken nuclear power and coal mining.
Solar energy is leading the world into a new era. In the solar age, entire major cities are already being powered by the sun. It was German researchers, such as those at the Fraunhofer Institute, and the German Renewable Energy Sources Act that achieved this ‘miracle’ and helped solar technology make its breakthrough worldwide.
Today, the global pioneers in solar technology and renewable energy as a whole are China and India, but also smaller countries such as Pakistan, Kenya and Costa Rica. In Germany, too, solar installations are currently experiencing a boom. In the second quarter of 2026, solar installations in the heating sector were up by ten per cent on the same quarter of the previous year. By July, the figure had already risen to 21 per cent more than the previous year. In 2026, around 60 per cent of the electricity consumed in this country will come from renewable sources. The decisive advantage today – and even more so tomorrow – is that solar energy beats all other energy sources on price. (Charts can be found via this link on the Federal Network Agency’s website.)
“Land is a new source of wealth for local authorities,” writes the trade journal ‘Photovoltaik’. And: “High energy prices, growing demand for electricity, extreme heat – climate change has many facets. Nuclear power stations have been taken off the grid across Europe.”
However, in Germany, sales of heat pumps rose by 40 per cent in the first half of 2026 compared with the previous year. This suggests that consumer awareness is growing. Solar energy is set to become a mainstay of the German economy, provided that policymakers set the right course.
Even if word has not yet got round in the federal government: solar and wind farms provide local authorities with welcome revenue. Solar power on roofs and façades relieves households of high energy costs for schools, hospitals and care homes. Buildings and open spaces can bring new prosperity to local authorities. Car parks can be used as solar carports and generate revenue. This simultaneously drives the energy transition and protects the climate. E-mobility is thus advancing, and new jobs are being created through the increasing number of heat pumps.
And the global question is also: war over oil or peace through the sun?
Neither Trump, nor Putin, nor Xi, nor Netanyahu can wage war over the sun. Every solar panel and every wind turbine is a symbol of peace. The more we ‘tap into’ the sun, the more peace and the more climate protection we’ll have. It’s all up to us. Just as we managed to close the hole in the ozone layer, we can still halt climate change.
