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Spatial lifecycles of cleantech industries – The global development history of solar photovoltaics

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  • Binz, Christian
  • Tang, Tian
  • Huenteler, Joern

Abstract

New industries develop in increasingly globalized networks, whose dynamics are not well understood by academia and policy making. Solar photovoltaics (PV) are a case in point for an industry that experienced several shifts in its spatial organization over a short period of time. A lively debate has recently emerged on whether the spatial dynamics in new cleantech sectors are in line with existing industry lifecycle models or whether globalization created new lifecycle patterns that are not fully explained in the literature. This paper addresses this question based on an extensive analysis of quantitative data in the solar PV sector. Comprehensive global databases containing 86,000 patents as well as manufacturing and sales records are used to analyze geographic shifts in the PV sector’s innovation, manufacturing and market deployment activities between 1990 and 2012. The analysis reveals spatial lifecycle patterns with lower-than-expected first mover advantages in manufacturing and market activities and an earlier entry of firms from emerging economies in manufacturing and knowledge creation. We discuss implications of these findings for the competitive positions of companies in developed and emerging economies, derive new stylized hypotheses for industry lifecycle theories, and sketch policy approaches that are reflexive of global interdependencies in emerging cleantech industries.

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  • Binz, Christian & Tang, Tian & Huenteler, Joern, 2017. "Spatial lifecycles of cleantech industries – The global development history of solar photovoltaics," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 386-402.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:101:y:2017:i:c:p:386-402
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2016.10.034
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    2. Binz, Christian & Truffer, Bernhard, 2017. "Global Innovation Systems—A conceptual framework for innovation dynamics in transnational contexts," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(7), pages 1284-1298.
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    5. Maria Tsouri & Jens Hanson & Håkon Endresen Normann, 2020. "Does participation in knowledge networks facilitate international market access? The case of offshore wind," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20200303, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    6. Adela Conchado & Pedro Linares, 2017. "A New ‘Cut’ on Technological Innovation Aiming for Sustainability in a Globalized World," SPRU Working Paper Series 2017-25, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    7. Piotr Senkus & Waldemar Glabiszewski & Aneta Wysokińska-Senkus & Szymon Cyfert & Roman Batko, 2021. "The Potential of Ecological Distributed Energy Generation Systems, Situation, and Perspective for Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-26, November.
    8. Caravella, Serenella & Crespi, Francesco & Cucignatto, Giacomo & Guarascio, Dario, 2023. "Technological Sovereignty and Strategic Dependencies: The case of the Photovoltaic Supply Chain," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1330, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. Andersson, Johnn & Hellsmark, Hans & Sandén, Björn, 2021. "Photovoltaics in Sweden – Success or failure?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    10. Bruns, Stephan B. & Kalthaus, Martin, 2020. "Flexibility in the selection of patent counts: Implications for p-hacking and evidence-based policymaking," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    11. Xiao-Shan Yap & Bernhard Truffer & Deyu Li & Gaston Heimeriks, 2020. "From knowledge-based catching up to valuation focused development: Emerging strategy shifts in the Chinese solar photovoltaic industry," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2059, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Dec 2020.
    12. Sebastian Rohe & Jannika Mattes, 2021. "What about the regional level? Regional configurations of Technological Innovation Systems," PEGIS geo-disc-2021_01, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    13. Rohe, Sebastian & Chlebna, Camilla, 2022. "The evolving role of networking organizations in advanced sustainability transitions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    14. Gosens, Jorrit, 2020. "The greening of South-South trade: Levels, growth, and specialization of trade in clean energy technologies between countries in the global South," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 931-943.
    15. Binz, Christian & Gosens, Jorrit & Hansen, Teis & Hansen, Ulrich Elmer, 2017. "Toward Technology-Sensitive Catching-Up Policies: Insights from Renewable Energy in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 418-437.
    16. Wittfoth, Sven & Berger, Theo & Moehrle, Martin G., 2022. "Revisiting the innovation dynamics theory: How effectiveness- and efficiency-oriented process innovations accompany product innovations," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    17. P. G. J. Persoon & R. N. A. Bekkers & F. Alkemade, 2021. "The Knowledge Mobility of Renewable Energy Technology," Papers 2106.10474, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2021.
    18. Hipp, Ann & Binz, Christian, 2020. "Firm survival in complex value chains and global innovation systems: Evidence from solar photovoltaics," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    19. Shubbak, Mahmood H., 2019. "The technological system of production and innovation: The case of photovoltaic technology in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 993-1015.
    20. Andersson, Johnn & Hellsmark, Hans & Sandén, Björn A., 2018. "Shaping factors in the emergence of technological innovations: The case of tidal kite technology," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 191-208.
    21. Zhu, Xiangdong & He, Canfei & Gu, Zhutong, 2021. "Benefit from local or destination? The export expansion of Chinese photovoltaic industry under trade protection," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    22. Lim, Taekyoung & Tang, Tian & Bowen, William M., 2021. "The Impact of Intergovernmental Grants on Innovation in Clean Energy and Energy Conservation: Evidence from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(PA).
    23. Persoon, P.G.J. & Bekkers, R.N.A. & Alkemade, F., 2022. "The knowledge mobility of Renewable Energy Technology," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    24. Jie Liu & Arnulf Grubler & Tieju Ma & Dieter F. Kogler, 2021. "Identifying the technological knowledge depreciation rate using patent citation data: a case study of the solar photovoltaic industry," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(1), pages 93-115, January.
    25. Rosiello, Alessandro & Maleki, Ali, 2021. "A dynamic multi-sector analysis of technological catch-up: The impact of technology cycle times, knowledge base complexity and variety," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(3).

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