Global Community
With the words “Spread the Word! Share why you are already 24 Hours of Sun!”, Fronius is calling on people all over the world to affirm their support for sustainability and healthy growth. You can then have your picture and logo entered onto the world map. (Diagram: Fronius)
Fronius is also increasing its use of the opportunities presented by digitalisation, but in a totally different way. It is not initially apparent what direct use this has for the company, as at first sight it looks like a completely idealistic project. The Internet portal “24 Hours of Sun” created by Fronius is open to all, worldwide. The vision of being able to use solar energy directly or indirectly right around the clock is one which the company wishes to spread around the globe, integrating as many people as possible, stresses Andrea Schartner, Press Spokesperson for the Business Unit Solar Energy at the Austrian company. Anybody who this appeals to can participate. It is not only about solar power, but more generally about sustainability and healthy growth.
Service providers and manufactures wishing to play a part in the “24 Hours of Sun” project appear with their location on a world map. “The concept enables secure, clean, sustainable and independent supplies, and this for individual consumers and whole countries alike,” says Schartner. The start of the campaign certainly required a lot of effort, but Fronius believes it will soon be running mostly autonomously, as “24 Hours of Sun” should be fundamentally viewed as an independent vision in its own right. The company trusts that the campaign has enough strength to be able to survive on its own. So what does Fronius get from this? “We benefit from this at very different levels. In our company the vision provides us with a very strong orientation. We make decisions based upon whether they fit in with the vision or not.”
Fronius is going with the idea that the customers will end up making the link between vision and the technologies, products and solutions which the company offers, as a way of getting step-by-step closer to “24 Hours of Sun”. Andrea Schartner is convinced that “our customers value the good feeling from making a purchasing decision which does something pretty substantial towards continuing to secure a future worth living in.” Fronius is thus turning on a massive wheel with a really long-term effect. Whether this also pays off in terms of Fronius selling more inverters will only become clear in several years’ time, but at least nobody will be able to challenge the company’s unique selling point in a hurry.