IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v127y2019icp280-286.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Accelerating renewable energy electrification and rural economic development with an innovative business model: A case study in China

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Changsheng
  • Shen, Bo

Abstract

The rural developing world faces a significant challenge in achieving the dual objectives of economic growth and decarbonization. An innovative business model tested in China that combines the use of solar photovoltaics (PVs) and agricultural greenhouses offers a solution to meeting this challenge and can have the potential for global deployment. However, the traditional PV-greenhouse business model is facing growing difficulties with shrinking revenues due to declining feed-in-tariffs. This study discusses a new business model concept based on a case in which a local Chinese PV company has transformed its business model from a crop production business to a service platform. The study concludes that business model innovation for expanding PV-greenhouse functions can help PV agricultural companies effectively adapt their businesses to policy changes and that new supporting policies are needed in promoting PV-greenhouse integration, adopting financial supporting measures, and facilitating grid integration of PV.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Changsheng & Shen, Bo, 2019. "Accelerating renewable energy electrification and rural economic development with an innovative business model: A case study in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 280-286.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:127:y:2019:i:c:p:280-286
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2018.12.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030142151830805X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.12.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moner-Girona, M. & Solano-Peralta, M. & Lazopoulou, M. & Ackom, E.K. & Vallve, X. & Szabó, S., 2018. "Electrification of Sub-Saharan Africa through PV/hybrid mini-grids: Reducing the gap between current business models and on-site experience," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 1148-1161.
    2. Richter, Mario, 2012. "Utilities’ business models for renewable energy: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 2483-2493.
    3. Morris, Michael & Schindehutte, Minet & Allen, Jeffrey, 2005. "The entrepreneur's business model: toward a unified perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 726-735, June.
    4. Azadeh Shomali & Jonatan Pinkse, 2016. "The consequences of smart grids for the business model of electricity firms," Post-Print hal-02022695, HAL.
    5. Andersen, Poul H. & Mathews, John A. & Rask, Morten, 2009. "Integrating private transport into renewable energy policy: The strategy of creating intelligent recharging grids for electric vehicles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2481-2486, July.
    6. Yamamoto, Yoshihiro, 2017. "Feed-in tariffs combined with capital subsidies for promoting the adoption of residential photovoltaic systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 312-320.
    7. Budde Christensen, Thomas & Wells, Peter & Cipcigan, Liana, 2012. "Can innovative business models overcome resistance to electric vehicles? Better Place and battery electric cars in Denmark," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 498-505.
    8. Scott, Inara, 2017. "A business model for success: Enterprises serving the base of the pyramid with off-grid solar lighting," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 50-55.
    9. Okkonen, Lasse & Suhonen, Niko, 2010. "Business models of heat entrepreneurship in Finland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3443-3452, July.
    10. Philip J. Vergragt, 2010. "System Innovation for Sustainability 1: Perspectives on Radical Changes to Sustainable Consumption and Production edited by edited by Arnold Tukker, Martin Charter, Carlo Vezzoli, Eivind Stø and Maj M," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 14(1), pages 179-181, January.
    11. Karakaya, Emrah & Nuur, Cali & Hidalgo, Antonio, 2016. "Business model challenge: Lessons from a local solar company," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1026-1035.
    12. Henry Chesbrough & Richard S. Rosenbloom, 2002. "The role of the business model in capturing value from innovation: evidence from Xerox Corporation's technology spin-off companies," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(3), pages 529-555, June.
    13. Loock, Moritz, 2012. "Going beyond best technology and lowest price: on renewable energy investors’ preference for service-driven business models," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 21-27.
    14. Zhang, Sufang, 2016. "Innovative business models and financing mechanisms for distributed solar PV (DSPV) deployment in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 458-467.
    15. Li, Canbing & Shi, Haiqing & Cao, Yijia & Wang, Jianhui & Kuang, Yonghong & Tan, Yi & Wei, Jing, 2015. "Comprehensive review of renewable energy curtailment and avoidance: A specific example in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1067-1079.
    16. Huijben, J.C.C.M. & Verbong, G.P.J., 2013. "Breakthrough without subsidies? PV business model experiments in the Netherlands," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 362-370.
    17. Helms, Thorsten & Loock, Moritz & Bohnsack, René, 2016. "Timing-based business models for flexibility creation in the electric power sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 348-358.
    18. Edward M. Roche, 2001. "Place to Space: Migrating to eBusiness Models," Journal of Global Information Technology Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(3), pages 70-71, July.
    19. Engelken, Maximilian & Römer, Benedikt & Drescher, Marcus & Welpe, Isabell M. & Picot, Arnold, 2016. "Comparing drivers, barriers, and opportunities of business models for renewable energies: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 795-809.
    20. San Román, Tomás Gómez & Momber, Ilan & Abbad, Michel Rivier & Sánchez Miralles, Álvaro, 2011. "Regulatory framework and business models for charging plug-in electric vehicles: Infrastructure, agents, and commercial relationships," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 6360-6375, October.
    21. Sufang Zhang, . "Innovative Business Models and Financing Mechanisms for Distributed Solar Photovoltaic (DSPV) Deployment in China," Chapters, in: Shigeru Kimura & Youngho Chang & Yanfei Li (ed.), Financing Renewable Energy Development in East Asia Summit Countries A Primer of Effective Policy Instruments, chapter 6, pages 161-191, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    22. Ramchandran, Neeraj & Pai, Rajesh & Parihar, Amit Kumar Singh, 2016. "Feasibility assessment of Anchor-Business-Community model for off-grid rural electrification in India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 197-209.
    23. Nair, Sujith & Paulose, Hanna, 2014. "Emergence of green business models: The case of algae biofuel for aviation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 175-184.
    24. Richter, Mario, 2013. "Business model innovation for sustainable energy: German utilities and renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1226-1237.
    25. Bird, Lori & Lew, Debra & Milligan, Michael & Carlini, E. Maria & Estanqueiro, Ana & Flynn, Damian & Gomez-Lazaro, Emilio & Holttinen, Hannele & Menemenlis, Nickie & Orths, Antje & Eriksen, Peter Børr, 2016. "Wind and solar energy curtailment: A review of international experience," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 577-586.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hossein Heirani & Naser Bagheri Moghaddam & Sina Labbafi & Seyedali Sina, 2022. "A Business Model for Developing Distributed Photovoltaic Systems in Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-21, September.
    2. Ebrahim Navid Sadjadi & Roemi Fernández, 2023. "Relational Marketing Promotes Sustainable Consumption Behavior in Renewable Energy Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-18, March.
    3. Liu, Zhengguang & Guo, Zhiling & Song, Chenchen & Du, Ying & Chen, Qi & Chen, Yuntian & Zhang, Haoran, 2023. "Business model comparison of slum-based PV to realize low-cost and flexible power generation in city-level," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 344(C).
    4. Rövekamp, Patrick & Schöpf, Michael & Wagon, Felix & Weibelzahl, Martin & Fridgen, Gilbert, 2021. "Renewable electricity business models in a post feed-in tariff era," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    5. Qiang Wang & Thomas Dogot & Yueling Yang & Jian Jiao & Boyang Shi & Changbin Yin, 2020. "From “Coal to Gas” to “Coal to Biomass”: The Strategic Choice of Social Capital in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-22, August.
    6. Focacci, Chiara Natalie, 2021. "Technological unemployment, robotisation, and green deal: A story of unstable spillovers in China and South Korea (2008–2018)," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    7. Hu, Bo & Zhou, P. & Zhang, L.P., 2022. "A digital business model for accelerating distributed renewable energy expansion in rural China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    8. Zheng, Jiajia & Wang, Xingwu, 2021. "Can mobile information communication technologies (ICTs) promote the development of renewables?-evidence from seven countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    9. Diatlova Valentyna & Diatlova Yuliia & Petryk Iryna & Hutareva Yuliia & Zubro Tetyana & Tyshchenko Olena, 2021. "Innovative Development: Model and Evaluation Method in the Context of Integration Processes," Management Theory and Studies for Rural Business and Infrastructure Development, Sciendo, vol. 43(1), pages 161-171, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Hamwi & Iban Lizarralde, 2019. "Demand-side management and renewable energy business models for energy transition A systematic review," Post-Print hal-02448505, HAL.
    2. Hu, Bo & Zhou, P. & Zhang, L.P., 2022. "A digital business model for accelerating distributed renewable energy expansion in rural China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    3. Karakaya, Emrah & Nuur, Cali & Hidalgo, Antonio, 2016. "Business model challenge: Lessons from a local solar company," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1026-1035.
    4. Ute Paukstadt & Jörg Becker, 2021. "Uncovering the business value of the internet of things in the energy domain – a review of smart energy business models," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 31(1), pages 51-66, March.
    5. Engelken, Maximilian & Römer, Benedikt & Drescher, Marcus & Welpe, Isabell M. & Picot, Arnold, 2016. "Comparing drivers, barriers, and opportunities of business models for renewable energies: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 795-809.
    6. Burger, Scott P. & Luke, Max, 2017. "Business models for distributed energy resources: A review and empirical analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 230-248.
    7. Horváth, Dóra & Szabó, Roland Zs., 2018. "Evolution of photovoltaic business models: Overcoming the main barriers of distributed energy deployment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 623-635.
    8. Hall, Stephen & Roelich, Katy, 2016. "Business model innovation in electricity supply markets: The role of complex value in the United Kingdom," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 286-298.
    9. Xiaojing Zhao & Tengyuan Chang & Bon-Gang Hwang & Xiaopeng Deng, 2017. "Critical Factors Influencing Business Model Innovation for Sustainable Buildings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-19, December.
    10. Herbes, Carsten & Brummer, Vasco & Rognli, Judith & Blazejewski, Susanne & Gericke, Naomi, 2017. "Responding to policy change: New business models for renewable energy cooperatives – Barriers perceived by cooperatives’ members," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 82-95.
    11. Pereira, Guillermo Ivan & Niesten, Eva & Pinkse, Jonatan, 2022. "Sustainable energy systems in the making: A study on business model adaptation in incumbent utilities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    12. Michael Hamwi & Jérémy Legardeur & Iban Lizarralde, 2016. "Energy Product Service Systems as core element of energy transition in the household sector: The Greenplay project," Post-Print hal-01404187, HAL.
    13. Gabriel, Cle-Anne, 2016. "What is challenging renewable energy entrepreneurs in developing countries?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 362-371.
    14. Nicholas Mukisa & Ramon Zamora & Tek Tjing Lie, 2022. "Energy Business Initiatives for Grid-Connected Solar Photovoltaic Systems: An Overview," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-26, November.
    15. Rövekamp, Patrick & Schöpf, Michael & Wagon, Felix & Weibelzahl, Martin & Fridgen, Gilbert, 2021. "Renewable electricity business models in a post feed-in tariff era," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    16. Brown, Donal & Hall, Stephen & Davis, Mark E., 2019. "Prosumers in the post subsidy era: an exploration of new prosumer business models in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    17. Helms, Thorsten, 2016. "Asset transformation and the challenges to servitize a utility business model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 98-112.
    18. Kubli, Merla & Puranik, Sanket, 2023. "A typology of business models for energy communities: Current and emerging design options," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    19. Friedrich Chasin & Ute Paukstadt & Patrick Ullmeyer & Jörg Becker, 2020. "Creating Value From Energy Data: A Practitioner’s Perspective on Data-Driven Smart Energy Business Models," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 72(4), pages 565-597, October.
    20. Niesten, Eva & Alkemade, Floortje, 2016. "How is value created and captured in smart grids? A review of the literature and an analysis of pilot projects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 629-638.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:127:y:2019:i:c:p:280-286. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.