IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v19y2013icp275-289.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The development of solar PV in The Netherlands: A case of survival in unfriendly contexts

Author

Listed:
  • Verhees, Bram
  • Raven, Rob
  • Veraart, Frank
  • Smith, Adrian
  • Kern, Florian

Abstract

This paper reviews the developments of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology in The Netherlands. Despite the recent boom in PV industries and its global deployment, The Netherlands has up to now not experienced major growth in the diffusion of PV electricity generation. But this is only part of the story. This paper focuses on the question why PV is still around in The Netherlands at all despiteits, at times, harsh policy and socio-economic contexts. It builds upon a recently developed framework from the field of transition studies that distinguishes between shielding, nurturing and empowerment of sustainable innovations. A descriptive historical review is combined with an analysis of niche space that shows how PV advocates have been able to strategically secure and shape protective measures over four decades in the context of harsh regime selection environments. The paper suggests how further analyses using this shielding-nurturing-empowerment framework can benefit from this exploratory study into PV innovation in The Netherlands.

Suggested Citation

  • Verhees, Bram & Raven, Rob & Veraart, Frank & Smith, Adrian & Kern, Florian, 2013. "The development of solar PV in The Netherlands: A case of survival in unfriendly contexts," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 275-289.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:19:y:2013:i:c:p:275-289
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2012.11.011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032112006223
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2012.11.011?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. Reijnders, L., 2002. "Imports as a major complication: liberalisation of the green electricity market in the Netherlands," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 723-726, July.
    2. Negro, Simona O. & Alkemade, Floortje & Hekkert, Marko P., 2012. "Why does renewable energy diffuse so slowly? A review of innovation system problems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 3836-3846.
    3. Smith, Adrian & Raven, Rob, 2012. "What is protective space? Reconsidering niches in transitions to sustainability," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1025-1036.
    4. Kamp, Linda M. & Smits, Ruud E. H. M. & Andriesse, Cornelis D., 2004. "Notions on learning applied to wind turbine development in the Netherlands and Denmark," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(14), pages 1625-1637, September.
    5. Raghu Garud & Arun Kumaraswamy & Peter Karnøe, 2010. "Path Dependence or Path Creation?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 760-774, June.
    6. Pinkse, Jonatan & van den Buuse, Daniel, 2012. "The development and commercialization of solar PV technology in the oil industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 11-20.
    7. Parida, Bhubaneswari & Iniyan, S. & Goic, Ranko, 2011. "A review of solar photovoltaic technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 1625-1636, April.
    8. Ulmanen, Johanna H. & Verbong, Geert P.J. & Raven, Rob P.J.M., 2009. "Biofuel developments in Sweden and the Netherlands: Protection and socio-technical change in a long-term perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(6-7), pages 1406-1417, August.
    9. Raven, Rob P.J.M., 2006. "Towards alternative trajectories? Reconfigurations in the Dutch electricity regime," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 581-595, May.
    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. Ding, Liping & Zhu, Yuxuan & Zheng, Longwei & Dai, Qiyao & Zhang, Zumeng, 2023. "What is the path of photovoltaic building (BIPV or BAPV) promotion? --The perspective of evolutionary games," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    2. Liao, Maolin & Zhang, Ze & Jia, Jin & Xiong, Jiao & Han, Mengyao, 2022. "Mapping China's photovoltaic power geographies: Spatial-temporal evolution, provincial competition and low-carbon transition," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 251-260.
    3. Munoz, L.A. Hurtado & Huijben, J.C.C.M. & Verhees, B. & Verbong, G.P.J., 2014. "The power of grid parity: A discursive approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 179-190.
    4. Shoko Yamada & Lav Kanoi & Vanessa Koh & Al Lim & Michael R. Dove, 2022. "Sustainability as a Moral Discourse: Its Shifting Meanings, Exclusions, and Anxieties," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-17, March.
    5. Neij, Lena & Heiskanen, Eva & Strupeit, Lars, 2017. "The deployment of new energy technologies and the need for local learning," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 274-283.
    6. Kern, Florian & Smith, Adrian & Shaw, Chris & Raven, Rob & Verhees, Bram, 2014. "From laggard to leader: Explaining offshore wind developments in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 635-646.
    7. Grimm, Veronika & Kretschmer, Sandra & Mehl, Simon, 2020. "Green innovations: The organizational setup of pilot projects and its influence on consumer perceptions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    8. Ansell, Christopher K. & Bartenberger, Martin, 2016. "Varieties of experimentalism," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 64-73.
    9. Xiong, Yongqing & Yang, Xiaohan, 2016. "Government subsidies for the Chinese photovoltaic industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 111-119.
    10. Fatimah, Yuti Ariani & Raven, Rob P.J.M. & Arora, Saurabh, 2015. "Scripts in transition: Protective spaces of Indonesian biofuel villages," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 1-13.
    11. Haley, Brendan, 2014. "Promoting low-carbon transitions from a two-world regime: Hydro and wind in Québec, Canada," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 777-788.
    12. Papachristos, George & Papadonikolaki, Eleni & Morgan, Bethan, 2024. "Projects as a speciation and aggregation mechanism in transitions: Bridging project management and transitions research in the digitalization of UK architecture, engineering, and construction industry," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    13. Kern, Florian & Verhees, Bram & Raven, Rob & Smith, Adrian, 2015. "Empowering sustainable niches: Comparing UK and Dutch offshore wind developments," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 344-355.
    14. Turnheim, Bruno & Geels, Frank W., 2019. "Incumbent actors, guided search paths, and landmark projects in infra-system transitions: Re-thinking Strategic Niche Management with a case study of French tramway diffusion (1971–2016)," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1412-1428.
    15. Meijer, L.L.J. & Huijben, J.C.C.M. & van Boxstael, A. & Romme, A.G.L., 2019. "Barriers and drivers for technology commercialization by SMEs in the Dutch sustainable energy sector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 114-126.
    16. Adachi, Misato, 2020. "Success and failure of renewable energy policies in the EU: A comparative study of Bulgaria and Poland," IPE Working Papers 131/2019, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    17. Goddard, George & Farrelly, Megan A., 2018. "Just transition management: Balancing just outcomes with just processes in Australian renewable energy transitions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 110-123.
    18. Luis Carvalho & Mario Vale, 2018. "Biotech by Bricolage? Agency, institutional relatedness and new path development in peripheral regions," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1801, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jan 2018.
    19. Verhees, Bram & Raven, Rob & Kern, Florian & Smith, Adrian, 2015. "The role of policy in shielding, nurturing and enabling offshore wind in The Netherlands (1973–2013)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 816-829.
    20. Lempiälä, Tea & Apajalahti, Eeva-Lotta & Haukkala, Teresa & Lovio, Raimo, 2019. "Socio-cultural framing during the emergence of a technological field: Creating cultural resonance for solar technology," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.

    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. Bram Verhees & Rob Raven & Frank Veraart & Adrian Smith & Florian Kern, 2012. "Interrogating Protective Space: Shielding, Nurturing and Empowering Dutch Solar PV," Working Papers 12-04, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies, revised Sep 2012.
    2. Bossink, Bart, 2020. "Learning strategies in sustainable energy demonstration projects: What organizations learn from sustainable energy demonstrations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    3. Garud, Raghu & Gehman, Joel, 2012. "Metatheoretical perspectives on sustainability journeys: Evolutionary, relational and durational," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 980-995.
    4. Negro, Simona O. & Alkemade, Floortje & Hekkert, Marko P., 2012. "Why does renewable energy diffuse so slowly? A review of innovation system problems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 3836-3846.
    5. Boon, Wouter P.C. & Moors, Ellen H.M. & Meijer, Albert J., 2014. "Exploring dynamics and strategies of niche protection," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 792-803.
    6. Kivimaa, Paula, 2014. "Government-affiliated intermediary organisations as actors in system-level transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 1370-1380.
    7. Jain, Sanjay & Islam, Habib A. & Goossen, Martin C. & Nair, Anil, 2023. "Social movements and institutional entrepreneurship as facilitators of technology transition: The case of free/open-source software," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    8. Kamp, Linda Manon & Bermúdez Forn, Esteban, 2016. "Ethiopia׳s emerging domestic biogas sector: Current status, bottlenecks and drivers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 475-488.
    9. Grillitsch, Markus & Coenen, Lars & Morgan, Kevin, 2023. "Directionality and Subsidiarity: A Regional Policy for People and Planet," Papers in Innovation Studies 2023/1, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    10. Pel, Bonno & Raven, Rob & van Est, Rinie, 2020. "Transitions governance with a sense of direction: synchronization challenges in the case of the dutch ‘Driverless Car’ transition," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    11. Danny Mackinnon & Stuart Dawley & Andy Pike & Andrew Cumbers, 2018. "Rethinking Path Creation: A Geographical Political Economy Approach," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1825, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jun 2018.
    12. Walrave, Bob & Raven, Rob, 2016. "Modelling the dynamics of technological innovation systems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(9), pages 1833-1844.
    13. Sillig, Cécile, 2022. "The role of ideology in grassroots innovation: An application of the arenas of development framework to organic in Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    14. Ortt, J. Roland & Kamp, Linda M., 2022. "A technological innovation system framework to formulate niche introduction strategies for companies prior to large-scale diffusion," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    15. Carola Guyot Phung & Florence Charue-Duboc, 2020. "Territorial dimension: emergence and diffusion processes of the sociotechnical niche [La dimension territoriale : modalités d’émergence et de diffusion de la niche sociotechnique]," Post-Print hal-03059762, HAL.
    16. Lopolito, A. & Morone, P. & Taylor, R., 2013. "Emerging innovation niches: An agent based model," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1225-1238.
    17. Florian Kern & Michael Howlett, 2009. "Implementing transition management as policy reforms: a case study of the Dutch energy sector," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 42(4), pages 391-408, November.
    18. Rogge, Karoline S. & Schleich, Joachim, 2018. "Do policy mix characteristics matter for low-carbon innovation? A survey-based exploration of renewable power generation technologies in Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1639-1654.
    19. W.F. Schilpzand & Rob P. J. M. Raven & Q.C. van Est, 2010. "Strategic Niche Management (SNM) beyond sustainability. An exploration of key findings of SNM through the lens of ICT and privacy," Working Papers 10-07, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies, revised Jul 2010.
    20. Nihit Goyal & Michael Howlett, 2018. "Technology and Instrument Constituencies as Agents of Innovation: Sustainability Transitions and the Governance of Urban Transport," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-14, May.

    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:rensus:v:19:y:2013:i:c:p:275-289. 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/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    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.