Merzig/Dillingen, 29 August 2025
The Next2Sun Group celebrates its tenth anniversary in the presence of Petra Berg, Minister for the Environment, Climate, Mobility, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, and looks back on an impressive development: what once began as a visionary idea in Saarland is now an internationally active company with over 100 employees and several locations in Germany and abroad.
The Next2Sun Group celebrated its tenth anniversary on Friday with a ceremony at the Merzig-Wellingen Agri-Solar Park. Around 250 guests from politics, business and society attended the event. Environment Minister Petra Berg also attended the celebrations and offered her congratulations: “For ten years, Next2Sun, a Saarland-based company, has been actively shaping the energy transition with innovative photovoltaic systems. The modules are positioned vertically to the sun – which might sound odd at first, but actually makes sense for a number of reasons: they produce electricity during off-peak hours and, thanks to this technology, no valuable farmland or meadows are lost to agriculture. I would like to offer my sincere congratulations on your tenth anniversary.”
Since its foundation in 2015, the Next2Sun Group has been driving forward the expansion of renewable energies with passion and technological excellence. The company is the inventor and technology leader in vertical bifacial photovoltaics – a technology that sets new standards in sustainable power generation. This is because the vertical orientation ensures electricity generation primarily in the morning and evening hours, i.e. at times of high demand and grid load. This closes a gap in electricity generation, as most solar parks produce electricity around midday. The concept is therefore an important building block for implementing the energy transition.
Heiko Hildebrandt, CEO of Next2Sun, sums it up as follows: ‘The idea of vertical bifacial photovoltaics has triggered a development that sets new standards for sustainable energy generation. We are delighted with this success and that the idea we had ten years ago has now proven itself in reality.’ However, Sascha Krause-Tünker, also a member of the Next2Sun management board, points out: ‘The solar industry has experienced many ups and downs in recent years – currently, for example, the delay of the solar package. Nevertheless, we at Next2Sun are excellently positioned for the future. Our journey has only just begun.’
The combination of technological innovation, sustainable thinking and economic foresight has made the company a pioneer in the field of agri-photovoltaics. Dr Gunter Erfurt, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Next2Sun AG, also addressed this in his keynote speech: ‘The energy transition needs new approaches – and Next2Sun delivers exactly that: a technology that sensibly combines agriculture and energy production. Politicians must now create reliable framework conditions so that the industry has planning security.’
