Power shift at TEDxBerlin

Quick to deploy, clean, and cheap; the virtues of solar technology took centre stage last night at the TEDxBerlin Salon event, which tackled the "Future of Energy." And it was clear that while there are a diverse array of technologies jostling to make an impact in decarbonising the world’s energy system, clean electrons – produced by solar PV and stored in battery energy storage systems – are making the biggest impact today. 

The event was held in the air cargo terminal at the city’s former airport in the west of the city, Tegel. The GUT Am Flughafen 1 is the first step in an attempt to repurpose the former airport into a tech campus – an ambitious program that is still in its infancy. 

During last night’s TEDxBerlin event it was evident that the Berlin TXL reconstruction project is only just getting underway. The TEDx organisers had dressed up the space and young cleantech companies had their wares on display, but Tegel’s reimagining remains a distant vision when compared to today’s crumbling reality.   

Yet it was the maturity of solar PV and battery energy storage that was the key takeaway from the largely-youthful attendees at the TEDx event. And while the event was future-focused, the impressive reality of solar and batteries today was the most striking message. 

“Renewable energy is now good to go,” said Alexander Voigt, the founder of formative solar manufacturing companies Solon and Qcells – both of which were based in Berlin.

“Today, solar has become the most abundant, sustainable and affordable source of energy. Globally a kilowatt-hour [of electricity] from a solar system is less than three cents (USD). Add two cents for storage and you have a complete game changer.”

Voigt took the attendees back to the future to highlight Berlin’s role in the transformative place solar has today. “In the late 1990s, something remarkable happened here in Berlin – solar energy began to take root in Germany. The first cleantech IPO we did we with our company Solon AG in 1989. And it triggered a whole startup movement on a global level.”

Solar at that time was a mere minnow in the global energy system. In 2024, it is rapidly transforming the energy system, in what represents a “revolution not a transition,” said Gerard Reid, the founder of Alexa Capital.

“I come from finance and the finance world realises it, it is putting its capital into solar,” said Reid. “We are solarising the world of electricity.”

In a rallying cry to the young audience, Reid highlighted the dominant position China occupies in this solar-led energy revolution. He observed how in solar, battery, and EV adoption and production, that China is far ahead of the United States and Europe. 

“China is financing the energy revolution,” said Reid. “The money it is putting into factories, installations, is four times the amount of the United States and Europe put together. Nobody is scaling these technologies like China – solar, EVs, batteries – China is leading on all of them.”

Reid noted that Europe is replete with incumbent businesses that will be resistant to change. By contrast, China has home to a host of fast-growing, disruptive innovators – with EV maker BYD and battery manufacturer CATL singled out in his presentation. 

“I believe there is going to be quite a big redistribution of global wealth. If you see any energy revolution that we’ve gone through, think of oil and gas at the beginning of the 20th century, Henry Ford – it was all lead by the United States. Now we’re being led by China.

“My opinion is that we’re entering a renewable era – full of opportunity and challenge. We’re stuck in the old world, stuck with a whole lot of incumbents that prevent and block change. My last message, as a European, as an Irish man living in Germany for years, is that we’re sleeping. Please, we need to wake up and change quickly.”

As the autumn rain fell on attendees departing TEDxBerlin event there was cautious optimism in the air. The Berlin TXL ambition is for a gleaming tech hub to emerge from the faded airport buildings. Yet it appears that progress has been slow. 

Similarly, the energy revolution that is in full swing in China has occurred in fits and starts in Berlin, Germany, and Europe. Progress will have to accelerate for the new future of energy, powered by solar and batteries, to fully emerge. 

This article is also published on Climate Copy. illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability & Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.