Munich/Pforzheim, April 30, 2026 – Electricity on the moon? It may sound revolutionary and ahead of our time, but this vision could soon become reality. The successful Artemis mission marks the beginning of a new era in which living on the moon in artificial habitats is possible. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) service module is equipped with four solar installations for electricity supply and temperature regulation in the spaceship. ees Europe will show that a power supply on the moon is possible and that modern energy storage systems know no terrestrial bounds. As part of the ees Island Challenge, a moon research facility is used as a testing ground for tomorrow’s energy supply and for lunar settlements. The Island Challenge is a competition that is being held for the second time this year. The goal is to develop innovative solutions for a climate-friendly energy supply on islands – last year’s competition focused on Curaçao in the Caribbean. The challenge and the presentation of the results are one of the highlights of ees Europe, Europe’s largest and most international exhibition for batteries and energy storage systems. The exhibition is taking place from June 23–25 at Messe München as part of The smarter E Europe, Europe’s largest alliance of exhibitions for the energy industry. More than 2,800 exhibitors and over 100,000 visitors are expected over the three days of the exhibition.
The ees Innovation Hub in hall B0 will bridge the gap between innovation and practice, giving young businesses and innovations a platform where they can connect with industry and academia. ees Europe also promotes and supports young experts and start-ups as they contribute a lot to the success of the energy transition. 170 start-ups will present their ideas at an exclusive exhibition segment in the Start-up Area.
Competition to design lunar energy supply
The ees Island Challenge, which is directly linked to the Artemis mission, was launched in mid-March. In 2028, humans are expected to land on the moon once again, and two years later NASA plans to establish a lunar base. The LUNA hall in Cologne, Germany, is a moon on Earth, so to speak. It is a globally unique training facility for future missions and is a joint project of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and ESA. Next to the hall is the FLEXhab, a kind of space camping container with room for up to four astronauts. They live and work here during a simulated moon mission. All that is missing is a powerful, self-sufficient energy system – the very goal of the ees Island Challenge.
On March 12, 2026, ESA gave the participating teams their task: They are to develop a concept that can independently supply the FLEXhab with electricity during future moon missions. The teams are from the Helmholtz-Institut Berlin/University of Potsdam and the RWTH Aachen University, consisting of both experts and emerging professionals in the photovoltaics and energy storage industries. “The Moon is just over 380,000 km from Earth. There is an intensive effort now to sustainably explore the surface of our nearest planetary neighbor. While a challenging environment, there are many energy resources that can be deployed or exploited there. I’m very excited to see what solutions the teams come up with,” says Aidan Cowley, Science Officer at ESA. The teams will work on their ideas over the coming weeks and present them at ees Europe in June.
The ees Island Challenge highlights the importance of stand-alone solutions. Islands and other off-grid locations, such as mountain villages, could serve as laboratories for the energy transition, where ideas could be tested and solutions developed on a small scale before being scaled up to larger systems. “The international storage industry demonstrates strong innovative power and high relevance at Europe’s largest exhibition for batteries and energy storage systems, ees Europe. With the ees Island Challenge, we will demonstrate that it is possible to supply people anywhere, around the clock, with renewable electricity using storage devices and intelligent decentralized energy systems,” says Sabine Kloos, Project Manager of ees Europe.
Exclusive innovations and offers for young people
The Study Program is specially designed for students, with expert presentations from renowned experts and tours of the exhibition. From battery technology to advanced storage systems and flywheel energy storage systems: Storage innovations will be presented at the ees Innovation Hub, which is next to the West Entrance. In the same hall (B0) is the Innovation Hub Stage, another important meeting point for visitors and exhibitors. On all three exhibition days, there will be a diverse program about innovations from areas such as battery technology, recycling, AI in battery research and production, as well as industry pitches. This is also where you will find the results of the ees Island Challenge. The Connect&Create area in the ees Innovation Hub is the best place for content creators, influencers and media partners to produce their content. For tradespeople who want to learn about innovations in their industry, there will be presentations at the ees Forum. The smarter E conferences are taking place at the same time on June 22 and 23 at the neighboring ICM Munich. The smarter E AWARD in the category Energy Storage will be presented at the opening night on June 22.
The exhibition program features a diverse combination of knowledge transfer, networking and live action. Trade visitors can network with exhibitors, exchange ideas and learn about current trends, the use of artificial intelligence and self-learning software.
ees Europe and the parallel events Intersolar Europe, Power2Drive Europe and EM-Power Europe will take place from June 23–25, 2026 as part of the innovation hub The smarter E Europe, Europe’s largest alliance of exhibitions for the energy industry, at Messe München. Around 2,800 exhibitors and more than 100,000 visitors are expected to attend.
For more information, please visit:
ees Europe
Each year, ees Europe, Europe’s largest and most international exhibition for batteries and energy storage systems, provides a networking opportunity for the industry’s key players, such as manufacturers, distributors, project developers, systems integrators, and professional users and suppliers – all under the motto “Innovating Energy Storage”. It focuses on the latest technologies, trends and market developments.
ees Europe will take place from June 23–25, 2026 – for the first time from Tuesday to Thursday – as part of The smarter E Europe, Europe’s largest alliance of exhibitions for the energy industry, at Messe München. Whether electricity, heat and transport – the following three exhibitions dedicated to renewable 24/7 energy supply will take place alongside ees Europe:
The ees Europe Conference, where renowned experts showcase groundbreaking innovations, will also take place at the same time from June 22–23, 2026 (Monday–Tuesday). To cover all aspects of a future-oriented energy world, it will be accompanied by three other specialist conferences.
ees Europe is organized by Solar Promotion GmbH and Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH & Co. KG (FWTM). For more information on ees Europe, please visit: www.ees-europe.com.
Contact:
Solar Promotion GmbH | P.O. Box 100 170 | 75101 Pforzheim
Sabine Kloos | Tel.: +49 7231 58598-0 | Fax: +49 7231 58598-28
Press contact:
RYSM | Schlesische Straße 26/c4 |10997 Berlin
Roberto Freiberger | Tel.: +49 163 8430 943
Solar Promotion GmbH | P.O. Box 100 170 | 75101 Pforzheim
Peggy Härter-Zilay | Tel.: +49 7231 58598-240
haerter-zilay@solarpromotion.com