- Sunmaxx is once again a finalist in the prestigious The smarter E Award (formerly Intersolar Award) with its PX-1 hybrid module.
- The innovative technology and the highly automated production process make the PX-1 hybrid module which is nominated for the award the most powerful and cost-effective PVT module on the market.
- The system has the potential to become one of the most important drivers of the energy transition.
- The smarter e Award is presented the night before the start of The smarter E, the world’s largest trade fair alliance of the energy industry.
Dresden, 28.04.2025: The energy sector is undergoing radical changes. Renewable systems are becoming an increasingly important part of the energy mix and already represent the most efficient solution for climate-friendly and cost-effective living and economic activity. A fundamental contribution to this development is being made by visionary companies whose innovative technologies enable an even more effective use of renewable resources. The best of them have made it to the finals of The smarter E Award 2025, including PVT manufacturer Sunmaxx with their PX-1 hybrid module. An earlier generation of the module had already been nominated as a finalist in 2023, when the award was still known as the Intersolar Award. This year’s The smarter E Award will be presented the night before the start of The smarter E, the largest trade fair alliance in the energy industry, in Munich.
The Sunmaxx PX-1, finalist of The smarter E Award 2025 in the Photovoltaics category, is a photovoltaic-thermal hybrid module (PVT). PVT modules supply electricity and heat at the same time. They achieve four times the energy yield of conventional PV modules and act as a direct supplier of electricity and source heat for brine heat pumps. However, due to time-consuming and cost-intensive production processes, PVT was long considered uneconomical. Sunmaxx is the first manufacturer to have succeeded in simplifying, accelerating and automating these production processes. To achieve this, Sunmaxx has developed an innovative combination of PV technology and battery management from the automotive industry. The hybrid system not only harnesses energy from solar radiation, but also from the ambient temperature.
The components required for manufacturing the PX-1 all come from industrial mass production and are available at low cost. The modules are assembled and processed in a highly automated production process specially developed by Sunmaxx. This enables the PX-1 to be priced significantly more attractively than competitor products. Sunmaxx is thus the first manufacturer in the world to have succeeded in transferring PVT from a niche to mass production and making hybrid modules a worthwhile investment for a broad target group from a wide range of industries.
“We are confident that we will be successful with the new generation of our PVT module at this year’s The smarter E Award,” comments Dr. Wilhelm Stein, CEO of Sunmaxx. “With the PX-1, we offer an affordable and almost self-sufficient energy system and enable fossil-free electricity and heat supply for almost every application: from single-family homes and municipal heat supply up to industrial plants with process heat.” Michael Gehenzig, Head of Sales at Sunmaxx, adds: “Our hybrid modules are a future-proof investment for a large number of decarbonization projects. After commissioning, our customers benefit from absolutely competitive and, above all, predictable energy costs of less than 10 cents per kilowatt hour. It is not without reason that Germany’s and Europe’s largest PVT projects are implemented with modules from Sunmaxx.”
About Sunmaxx
Sunmaxx manufactures photovoltaic-thermal hybrid modules with an efficiency of more than 80 percent. The plant in Ottendorf-Okrilla near Dresden currently has an annual production volume of 120,000 PVT modules. The plant was officially opened in April 2024 to great media attention. Since then, Sunmaxx has maintained the world’s largest PVT production facility of its kind.
About the The smarter E Award
The smarter E Award honors outstanding innovations and projects in the fields of energy and mobility. All exhibitors at the global trade fairs The smarter E, Intersolar, ees, Power2Drive and EM-Power are eligible to participate. The award ceremony will take place on May 6, 2025 at the ICM Munich, on the eve of the first day of The smarter E Europe.
Title Image Sunmaxx PVT Plant: © Wagner Solar GmbH