The Social Democrat politician Hermann Scheer was a member of the German parliament, from 1980 to 2010, and of of his party's federal committee, from 1993 to 2009. Internationally, Scheer is considered to have been a pioneer in the transition to renewable energy; he definitively shaped the political discourse on this theme worldwide. Starting in the late 1980s, he actively worked at the national and international level for complete independence from atomic and fossil energy sources, and developed visionary concepts for the global energy transition. In 1988, he founded EUROSOLAR, the non-profit Association for Renewable Energy, and became its honorary president. The organization considers solar energy to be the prerequisite for the maintenance of the foundations of life and develops concepts and courses of action for the introduction of renewable energy. At this time, the organization has twelve divisions in Europe and 20,000 members worldwide.

In the German parliament, Scheer was among the more left-winged members of his party; he was the initiator of many laws for the promotion of renewable energy, including the Renewable Energy Law (2000) and the 100,000 Roofs Program (1999). From June 2001, Scheer was the honorary chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy. After his death, his family founded the Hermann Scheer Foundation, which is to carry on his life's work.

Hermann Scheer was the bearer of the Karl Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit in 2009, of the World Wind Energy Award in 2004, and of the World Solar Prize in 1998. In the year 2000, he was name the Hero for the Green Century by TIME magazine. On October 14, 2010, Hermann Scheer died at the age of 66 in Berlin.