Michael Sladek (born 1946 in Murrhardt) is a German doctor and bearer of the Federal Cross of Merit.
He became famous by realising a grid-independent system for producing electricity,[1] [2] by distributed little power plants. For this he was awarded 1996 by the German magazine Capital with the Capital/ WWF - Umweltpreis. In 1999 he and his wife Ursula Sladek were awarded with the Nuclear-Free Future Award. In January 2004, the Sladek couple was awarded the highest order in Germany, the Federal Cross of Merit, for their great engagement for the environment.[3]
After the Chernobyl catastrophe in 1986, he became known for his idea of a system independent of nuclear power plants for generating electric power through distributed mini power plants. With his system that combines an efficiency-strategy with a power saving strategy it became possible to satisfy the power consumption of the community Schönau in the Black-Forest.[4] [5] Following his engagement supported by his wife and many friends the first German green power-provider came into existence, the EWS Schönau.The community of Schönau was the first community on Earth in a Western civilised country that became independent of the national power grid and could decide how the power will be produced.