The Georg Salvamoser Prize is one of the most highly coveted environmental awards in Germany. It is jointly sponsored by the city of Freiburg and the Georg Salvamoser Foundation. In 2018, the main prizes, each worth €10,000 go to the family-owned company Simmler GmbH & Co. KG in Lauchringen, Germany, and the PVPlug working group of the German Society for Solar Energy (DGS). The special prize, Young Energy, in the amount of €5,000 was awarded to the association Green City e.V. for its Energy School Munich submission.

Simmler was awarded by the jury for their sustainable production. This included modernizing and optimizing the plants so efficiently that the company has been able to obtain its energy supply from 100% renewable energy. The PVPlug working group won the prize for its committee work. It achieved a reformulation of the DIN standard, which now officially allows the connection of mini-solar modules . Thus, according to the working group, participation in the energy transition by millions has become easier now.