TY - CONF
T1 - Space travel : constructing and contesting a solar photovoltaic (PV) niche in the UK (1970-2012)
AU - Smith, A.
AU - Kern, F.
AU - Raven, R.P.J.M.
AU - Verhees, B.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Whilst the research, development and use of PV can be traced
back to space satellite programmes in the 1950s, explorations for
its terrestrial potential began after the energy crises of the 1970s.
In this paper we provide a history of its development in the UK,
where, after a further four decades of fitful innovation, and
various twists and turns along the way, PV has recently
undergone a rapid boom. However, it is a contested boom, with
complaints about cost leading to policy revisions that once more
threaten PV prospects. Based on 14 in-depth interviews and
documentary analysis, we explain the tenacity of this ‘hopeful
monstrosity’ along its journey. Even now, like many ‘sustainable
innovations’, PV remains at a competitive disadvantage in
existing markets; and relies upon policy to express the
environmental and social values PV claims to embody. Whilst
policy dependence emphasises development focused within the
nation state, the PV journey in the UK includes detours through
European research programmes, into space satellites, periods in
African villages, as well as help from German industrial policy.
A concept central to strategic niche management, and key to
technological innovation systems, is the provision of spaces
favourable to sustainable innovation. Yet their construction is
rarely interrogated and their influence on directions of travel is
obscure. Our analysis suggests prospective and retrospective
narratives about PV resonating with broader discourses and
interests explain how protective spaces emerge, stabalize and
decline over time; and how the characteristics of those spaces
shaped the journey PV has taken.
AB - Whilst the research, development and use of PV can be traced
back to space satellite programmes in the 1950s, explorations for
its terrestrial potential began after the energy crises of the 1970s.
In this paper we provide a history of its development in the UK,
where, after a further four decades of fitful innovation, and
various twists and turns along the way, PV has recently
undergone a rapid boom. However, it is a contested boom, with
complaints about cost leading to policy revisions that once more
threaten PV prospects. Based on 14 in-depth interviews and
documentary analysis, we explain the tenacity of this ‘hopeful
monstrosity’ along its journey. Even now, like many ‘sustainable
innovations’, PV remains at a competitive disadvantage in
existing markets; and relies upon policy to express the
environmental and social values PV claims to embody. Whilst
policy dependence emphasises development focused within the
nation state, the PV journey in the UK includes detours through
European research programmes, into space satellites, periods in
African villages, as well as help from German industrial policy.
A concept central to strategic niche management, and key to
technological innovation systems, is the provision of spaces
favourable to sustainable innovation. Yet their construction is
rarely interrogated and their influence on directions of travel is
obscure. Our analysis suggests prospective and retrospective
narratives about PV resonating with broader discourses and
interests explain how protective spaces emerge, stabalize and
decline over time; and how the characteristics of those spaces
shaped the journey PV has taken.
M3 - Other
ER -