Our story began in 1986 when our founder and CEO, Markus Elsässer , became convinced, after the Chernobyl disaster, that alternatives to nuclear energy were necessary. This conviction led to the founding of the first Solar '91 Congress in Pforzheim, Germany, in 1991, with 300 participants and five exhibitors.
The success was impressive: by 1999, the event had grown so much that it moved to Freiburg, and by 2000, it gained international attention under the name Intersolar.
From Germany to the World
2008 marked a pivotal turning point: with the relocation of Intersolar Europe to Munich, the number of participants and exhibitors multiplied. At the same time, we took our first step onto the international stage with Intersolar North America in San Francisco. In the following years, we expanded our portfolio worldwide—from Brazil and Mexico to India and the United Arab Emirates.
New Topics and Markets
In 2014, we added ees Europe, our energy storage exhibition, to our portfolio. With the founding of Conexio-PSE GmbH in 2017, we also strengthened our focus on technical and scientific conferences.
In 2018, we brought together Intersolar Europe and ees Europe , alongside new specialized exhibitions such as Power2Drive Europe with a focus on e-mobility, and EM-Power Europe , concentrating on the digitalization of energy infrastructure. Under the motto "Creating a New Energy World," The smarter E Europe became the largest alliance of exhibitions for the energy industry.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we created digital formats like webinars and podcasts to ensure continued exchange. In 2021, we merged with Conexio-PSE GmbH to further expand our expertise.
Records and Future Prospects
In 2024, reached a new milestone: with around 110,000 visitors from 176 countries and over 3,000 exhibitors from 55 nations, the event remains the cornerstone of our vision for a global energy transition.