Tomorrow’s stars – today’s solar ambassadors

Where did all these soccer players come from? Some SMA employees had a bit of a surprise a couple of Fridays ago, when Cameroon’s U-20 national soccer team was visiting SMA.    

Clad in green and yellow uniforms, the whole team plus their coaches, support staff, and press officers from Cameroon met up with representatives of the German soccer team KSV Hessen Kassel in the SMA reception area. Benno Gossmann of SMA’s Visitor Services and Jens Rose, member of the KSV Managing Board, welcomed the guests. After his remarks, Jens Rose presented SMA with a poster autographed by all the young national team members.

Following a convivial lunch in our cafeteria, the nearly 40 guests began a tour of SMA. An interpreter accompanied the group, many of whom were visiting Kassel for the first time, and spoke in French for the guests from Cameroon.

Benno introduced SMA, describing the company’s history and growth. The guests learned about our inverters and their important function in a PV plant.

Interested in backup and off-grid systems

The young athletes were particularly interested in our backup systems as well as our off-grid solutions. They were particularly enthusiastic that these systems can provide electricity to islands and other places with little or no grid infrastructure.

The tour continued on to Solar Factory 1, our production hall. Starting with the assembly area, they went on to the test field, the consignment warehouse and electronics production. Our guests learned about the most important steps in the process of manufacturing an inverter.

The tour ended with a group photo. The coach of the U-20 national team then presented Benno with a traditional sculpture from Cameroon, explaining that it was a typical figure representing a tribal chief. The guests said goodbye with a hearty round of applause.

Double take

Mario Balotelli? No, but his double, at least as far as the haircut is concerned. My personal highlight was getting to know Sem, who is from Cameroon but lived in France. He currently lives in Italy, where he plays on the Parma FC U-20 team. Because I also speak Italian, this was an opportunity to chat with him about soccer and the latest European championships…

We wish these up-and-coming stars continued success. “Maybe one of these young players visiting SMA will the next Samuel Eto’o,” commented Jens Rose.

By the way: You too can visit SMA for a group tour. Just contact  Besucherservice@SMA.de