IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v124y2017icp435-446.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evolution of international trade for photovoltaic cells: A spatial structure study

Author

Listed:
  • Zhao, Zhen-Yu
  • Yang, Hui-Jia
  • Zuo, Jian

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) cell plays crucial role to utilize the solar energy. The regional differences in the PV industry have created unbalanced flows of PV cells. This paper examined patterns of the PV cells international trade from spatial and temporal perspectives. Data sources are regional monetary import-export tables and the world renewable energy statistics in 1996–2015. Based on the Haggett's cognitive model of spatial structure, the patterns and evolution characteristics are identified with an aid of ArcGIS. This study revealed most PV cells exporters are distributed in East Asia and Southeast Asia intensively whereas relatively balanced exports are presented in Europe and North American in recent years. Most PV cells are flowing from east to west while the pattern of PV cells international trade has transformed from single-pole to multi-pole. Meanwhile, the international trade intensity of PV cells grew steadily at the global scale, and evolution features of PV cells trades varied from region to region. Economics conditions, incentive policy and producers' demand are three critical factors. These findings provide a useful reference for identifying the intensity, orientation, main connections and development trend of traders. Moreover, the PV industrial practitioners can benefit from this research to develop corresponding international business strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhao, Zhen-Yu & Yang, Hui-Jia & Zuo, Jian, 2017. "Evolution of international trade for photovoltaic cells: A spatial structure study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 435-446.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:124:y:2017:i:c:p:435-446
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2017.02.093
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036054421730275X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2017.02.093?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. Celik, Ali Naci & Acikgoz, NasIr, 2007. "Modelling and experimental verification of the operating current of mono-crystalline photovoltaic modules using four- and five-parameter models," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 1-15, January.
    2. Algieri, Bernardina & Aquino, Antonio & Succurro, Marianna, 2011. "Going “green”: trade specialisation dynamics in the solar photovoltaic sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7275-7283.
    3. Brown, Marilyn A., 2001. "Market failures and barriers as a basis for clean energy policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(14), pages 1197-1207, November.
    4. Marinova, Dora & Balaguer, Antonio, 2009. "Transformation in the photovoltaics industry in Australia, Germany and Japan: Comparison of actors, knowledge, institutions and markets," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 461-464.
    5. Foxon, T. J. & Gross, R. & Chase, A. & Howes, J. & Arnall, A. & Anderson, D., 2005. "UK innovation systems for new and renewable energy technologies: drivers, barriers and systems failures," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(16), pages 2123-2137, November.
    6. Guan, Qing & An, Haizhong & Gao, Xiangyun & Huang, Shupei & Li, Huajiao, 2016. "Estimating potential trade links in the international crude oil trade: A link prediction approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 406-415.
    7. Zhao, Zhen-yu & Zhang, Shuang-Ying & Hubbard, Bryan & Yao, Xue, 2013. "The emergence of the solar photovoltaic power industry in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 229-236.
    8. Sagar, A. D. & Holdren, J. P., 2002. "Assessing the global energy innovation system: some key issues," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 465-469, May.
    9. Kim, Kyunam & Kim, Yeonbae, 2015. "Role of policy in innovation and international trade of renewable energy technology: Empirical study of solar PV and wind power technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 717-727.
    10. Parker, Paul, 2008. "Residential solar photovoltaic market stimulation: Japanese and Australian lessons for Canada," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(7), pages 1944-1958, September.
    11. Fuchs, Doris A. & Arentsen, Maarten J., 2002. "Green electricity in the market place: the policy challenge," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 525-538, May.
    12. Zuo, Jian & Zhao, Zhen-Yu, 2014. "Green building research–current status and future agenda: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 271-281.
    13. Frew, Bethany A. & Jacobson, Mark Z., 2016. "Temporal and spatial tradeoffs in power system modeling with assumptions about storage: An application of the POWER model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 117(P1), pages 198-213.
    14. Ji, Jie & Lu, Jian-Ping & Chow, Tin-Tai & He, Wei & Pei, Gang, 2007. "A sensitivity study of a hybrid photovoltaic/thermal water-heating system with natural circulation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 222-237, February.
    15. Zhang, Hai-Ying & Ji, Qiang & Fan, Ying, 2015. "What drives the formation of global oil trade patterns?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 639-648.
    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. Wang, Chao & Huang, Xia & Hu, Xiaoqian & Zhao, Longfeng & Liu, Chao & Ghadimi, Pezhman, 2021. "Trade characteristics, competition patterns and COVID-19 related shock propagation in the global solar photovoltaic cell trade," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    2. Lunardi, Marina M. & Moore, Stephen & Alvarez-Gaitan, J.P. & Yan, Chang & Hao, Xiaojing & Corkish, Richard, 2018. "A comparative life cycle assessment of chalcogenide/Si tandem solar modules," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 700-709.
    3. Mudan Wang & Xianqiang Mao & Youkai Xing & Jianhong Lu & Peng Song & Zhengyan Liu & Zhi Guo & Kevin Tu & Eric Zusman, 2021. "Breaking down barriers on PV trade will facilitate global carbon mitigation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.
    4. Lunardi, Marina M. & Needell, David R. & Bauser, Haley & Phelan, Megan & Atwater, Harry A. & Corkish, Richard, 2019. "Life Cycle Assessment of tandem LSC-Si devices," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 1-10.
    5. Alaaeddin, M.H. & Sapuan, S.M. & Zuhri, M.Y.M. & Zainudin, E.S. & AL- Oqla, Faris M., 2019. "Photovoltaic applications: Status and manufacturing prospects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 318-332.
    6. An, Qier & Wang, Lang & Qu, Debin & Zhang, Hujun, 2018. "Dependency network of international oil trade before and after oil price drop," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PA), pages 1021-1033.
    7. Guan, Qing & An, Haizhong & Wang, Kaiming & Duan, Yueran & Zhang, Yixiong, 2020. "Functional trade patterns and their contributions to international photovoltaic trade revealed by network motifs," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    8. Shuai, Jing & Zhao, Yujia & Wang, Yilan & Cheng, Jinhua, 2022. "Renewable energy product competitiveness: Evidence from the United States, China and India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    9. 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).
    10. Xuping Cao & Aroskar Rajarshi & Juxi Tong, 2018. "Technology Evolution of China’s Export of Renewable Energy Products," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-14, August.

    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. Qing Guan & Haizhong An & Xiaoqing Hao & Xiaoliang Jia, 2016. "The Impact of Countries’ Roles on the International Photovoltaic Trade Pattern: The Complex Networks Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-16, March.
    2. Felix Groba & Barbara Breitschopf, 2013. "Impact of Renewable Energy Policy and Use on Innovation: A Literature Review," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1318, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Bongsuk Sung & Myoung Shik Choi & Woo-Yong Song, 2019. "Exploring the Effects of Government Policies on Economic Performance: Evidence Using Panel Data for Korean Renewable Energy Technology Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-19, April.
    4. Bongsuk Sung & Myung-Bae Yeom & Hong-Gi Kim, 2017. "Eco-Efficiency of Government Policy and Exports in the Bioenergy Technology Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-18, September.
    5. Eleftheriadis, Iordanis M. & Anagnostopoulou, Evgenia G., 2015. "Identifying barriers in the diffusion of renewable energy sources," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 153-164.
    6. Shahriyar Nasirov & Carlos Silva & Claudio A. Agostini, 2015. "Investors’ Perspectives on Barriers to the Deployment of Renewable Energy Sources in Chile," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-21, April.
    7. Xiong, Yongqing & Yang, Xiaohan, 2016. "Government subsidies for the Chinese photovoltaic industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 111-119.
    8. Tiwari, Arvind & Dubey, Swapnil & Sandhu, G.S. & Sodha, M.S. & Anwar, S.I., 2009. "Exergy analysis of integrated photovoltaic thermal solar water heater under constant flow rate and constant collection temperature modes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(12), pages 2592-2597, December.
    9. Zhang, Jing, 2019. "Oil and gas trade between China and countries and regions along the ‘Belt and Road’: A panoramic perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 1111-1120.
    10. Hoppmann, Joern & Peters, Michael & Schneider, Malte & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2013. "The two faces of market support—How deployment policies affect technological exploration and exploitation in the solar photovoltaic industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 989-1003.
    11. Valeria Costantini & Francesco Gracceva, 2004. "Oil Security Short- and Long-Term Policies," Working Papers 2004.115, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    12. Bongsuk Sung & Woo-Yong Song, 2021. "Are Political Factors More Relevant Than Economic Factors in Firm-Level Renewable Energy Technology Export? Evidence from Path Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.
    13. Olivia Coldrey & Paul Lant & Peta Ashworth, 2023. "Elucidating Finance Gaps through the Clean Cooking Value Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-21, February.
    14. Okay, Nesrin & Akman, Ugur, 2010. "Analysis of ESCO activities using country indicators," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(9), pages 2760-2771, December.
    15. Konstantinos Koasidis & Alexandros Nikas & Hera Neofytou & Anastasios Karamaneas & Ajay Gambhir & Jakob Wachsmuth & Haris Doukas, 2020. "The UK and German Low-Carbon Industry Transitions from a Sectoral Innovation and System Failures Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-34, September.
    16. Marra, Alessandro & Colantonio, Emiliano, 2023. "On public policies in the energy transition: Evidence on the role of socio-technical regimes for renewable technologies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    17. Cagno, Enrico & Ramirez-Portilla, Andres & Trianni, Andrea, 2015. "Linking energy efficiency and innovation practices: Empirical evidence from the foundry sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 240-256.
    18. Xuanru Zhou & Hua Zhang & Shuxian Zheng & Wanli Xing & Pei Zhao & Haiying Li, 2022. "The Crude Oil International Trade Competition Networks: Evolution Trends and Estimating Potential Competition Links," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, March.
    19. Shao, Yanmin & Qiao, Han & Wang, Shouyang, 2017. "What determines China's crude oil importing trade patterns? Empirical evidences from 55 countries between 1992 and 2015," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 854-862.
    20. Negro, Simona O. & Hekkert, Marko P. & Smits, Ruud E., 2007. "Explaining the failure of the Dutch innovation system for biomass digestion--A functional analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 925-938, February.

    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:energy:v:124:y:2017:i:c:p:435-446. 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.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    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.