IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v90y2018icp623-635.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evolution of photovoltaic business models: Overcoming the main barriers of distributed energy deployment

Author

Listed:
  • Horváth, Dóra
  • Szabó, Roland Zs.

Abstract

The use of renewable energy resources is rapidly growing around the world. However, several barriers may hinder the diffusion of distributed energy solutions. This paper aims to identify the main inhibiting factors using a literature review methodology. To overcome these barriers and adapt to changing environmental conditions, companies operating in the distributed energy market need to develop innovative business model solutions. We therefore investigated the evolution of photovoltaic business models using the Business Model Canvas to determine how the obstacles to distributed energy deployment can be addressed. Finally, we applied the Lean Canvas to show the main differences between the models analysed and describe the benefits of the community-shared model compared with the alternatives, host-owned and third-party-owned solutions.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:90:y:2018:i:c:p:623-635
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2018.03.101
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032118301928
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2018.03.101?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. Solangi, K.H. & Islam, M.R. & Saidur, R. & Rahim, N.A. & Fayaz, H., 2011. "A review on global solar energy policy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 2149-2163, May.
    2. 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.
    3. Drury, Easan & Miller, Mackay & Macal, Charles M. & Graziano, Diane J. & Heimiller, Donna & Ozik, Jonathan & Perry IV, Thomas D., 2012. "The transformation of southern California's residential photovoltaics market through third-party ownership," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 681-690.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Gert Brunekreeft, Marius Buchmann, and Roland Meyer, 2016. "The Rise of Third Parties and the Fall of Incumbents Driven by Large-Scale Integration of Renewable Energies: The Case of Germany," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Bollino-M).
    7. Sidney G. Winter & Gabriel Szulanski, 2001. "Replication as Strategy," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(6), pages 730-743, December.
    8. 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.
    9. Seel, Joachim & Barbose, Galen L. & Wiser, Ryan H., 2014. "An analysis of residential PV system price differences between the United States and Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 216-226.
    10. Rai, Varun & Reeves, D. Cale & Margolis, Robert, 2016. "Overcoming barriers and uncertainties in the adoption of residential solar PV," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 498-505.
    11. Christoph Zott & Raphael Amit, 2007. "Business Model Design and the Performance of Entrepreneurial Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 181-199, April.
    12. Richter, Mario, 2013. "Business model innovation for sustainable energy: German utilities and renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1226-1237.
    13. Karakaya, Emrah & Hidalgo, Antonio & Nuur, Cali, 2015. "Motivators for adoption of photovoltaic systems at grid parity: A case study from Southern Germany," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1090-1098.
    14. Georg Stampfl, 2016. "The Process of Business Model Innovation," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-658-11266-0, December.
    15. 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.
    16. Martin J. Eppler & Friederike Hoffmann, 2011. "Challenges and Visual Solutions for Strategic Business Model Innovation," Springer Books, in: Michael Hülsmann & Nicole Pfeffermann (ed.), Strategies and Communications for Innovations, chapter 0, pages 25-36, Springer.
    17. Tongsopit, Sopitsuda & Moungchareon, Sunee & Aksornkij, Apinya & Potisat, Tanai, 2016. "Business models and financing options for a rapid scale-up of rooftop solar power systems in Thailand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 447-457.
    18. Amit, Raphael & Zott, Christoph, 2010. "Business model innovation: Creating value in times of change," IESE Research Papers D/870, IESE Business School.
    19. Hashim, Haslenda & Ho, Wai Shin, 2011. "Renewable energy policies and initiatives for a sustainable energy future in Malaysia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4780-4787.
    20. Gert Brunekreeft & Marius Buchmann & Roland Meyer, 2016. "The Rise of Third Parties and the Fall of Incumbents Driven by Large-Scale Integration of Renewable Energies: The Case of Germany," Bremen Energy Working Papers 0024, Bremen Energy Research.
    21. Asmus, Peter, 2008. "Exploring New Models of Solar Energy Development," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 61-70, April.
    22. Ruggiero, Salvatore & Varho, Vilja & Rikkonen, Pasi, 2015. "Transition to distributed energy generation in Finland: Prospects and barriers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 433-443.
    23. 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.
    24. Davidson, Carolyn & Steinberg, Daniel, 2013. "Evaluating the impact of third-party price reporting and other drivers on residential photovoltaic price estimates," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 752-761.
    25. Overholm, Harald, 2015. "Spreading the rooftop revolution: What policies enable solar-as-a-service?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 69-79.
    26. Comello, Stephen & Reichelstein, Stefan, 2016. "Cost Competitiveness of Residential Solar PV: The Impact of Net Metering Restrictions," Research Papers 3418, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    27. 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.
    28. Richter, Mario, 2013. "German utilities and distributed PV: How to overcome barriers to business model innovation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 456-466.
    29. Reddy, Sudhakar & Painuly, J.P, 2004. "Diffusion of renewable energy technologies—barriers and stakeholders’ perspectives," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(9), pages 1431-1447.
    30. Hannon, Matthew J. & Foxon, Timothy J. & Gale, William F., 2013. "The co-evolutionary relationship between Energy Service Companies and the UK energy system: Implications for a low-carbon transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1031-1045.
    31. Ellabban, Omar & Abu-Rub, Haitham, 2016. "Smart grid customers' acceptance and engagement: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1285-1298.
    32. Ulrich Dewald & Bernhard Truffer, 2011. "Market Formation in Technological Innovation Systems—Diffusion of Photovoltaic Applications in Germany," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 285-300.
    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. Olivier Rebenaque & Carlo Schmitt & Klemens Schumann, 2022. "Trading in local markets: A review of concepts and challenges," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(2), pages 25-47.
    2. Wu, Yunna & Xu, Minjia & Tao, Yao & He, Jiaming & Liao, Yijia & Wu, Man, 2022. "A critical barrier analysis framework to the development of rural distributed PV in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).

    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. Koerner, Sonja Angelika & Siew, Wei Sian & Salema, Arshad Adam & Balan, Poovarasi & Mekhilef, Saad & Thavamoney, Nisha, 2022. "Energy policies shaping the solar photovoltaics business models in Malaysia with some insights on Covid-19 pandemic effect," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    2. Michael Hamwi & Iban Lizarralde, 2019. "Demand-side management and renewable energy business models for energy transition A systematic review," Post-Print hal-02448505, HAL.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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).
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. Shahriyar Nasirov & Paula Gonzalez & Jose Opazo & Carlos Silva, 2023. "Development of Rooftop Solar under Netbilling in Chile: Analysis of Main Barriers from Project Developers’ Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, January.
    14. Helms, Thorsten, 2016. "Asset transformation and the challenges to servitize a utility business model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 98-112.
    15. Marlena Ciechan-Kujawa & Michal Buszko, 2020. "The Susceptibility of the Business Model to Changes - Empirical Analysis of Internal Determinants of Variability," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 739-757.
    16. Bankel, Amanda & Mignon, Ingrid, 2022. "Solar business models from a firm perspective – an empirical study of the Swedish market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    17. Ahlgren Ode, Kajsa & Lagerstedt Wadin, Jessica, 2019. "Business model translation—The case of spreading a business model for solar energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 23-31.
    18. 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.
    19. Payam Hanafizadeh & Mohammad Mehrabioun & Kambiz Badie & Jahanyar Bamdad Soofi, 2018. "A Systemic Framework for Business Model Design and Development -Part A: Theorizing Perspective," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 437-461, August.
    20. 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).

    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:90:y:2018:i:c:p:623-635. 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.