Green innovation value chain analysis of PV solar power

Abstract

Governments around the world have employed a variety of generous subsidies to help promote and develop clean energy technologies in the hope that they will widely replace dirtier carbon-based power sources. Unfortunately these subsidies have not prevented numerous green technology bankruptcies including the infamous 2011 closure of the California based solar panel producer Solyndra, and these failures have cost taxpayers and private investors billions in lost capital. The green innovation value chain (GIVC) provides a possible framework for determining the diffusion prospects of green technologies through environmental and financial comparisons to conventional alternatives across the separate chain links comprised of manufacturers, distributors, customers, government, and the environment. The GIVC framework is used here to analyze the photovoltaic solar power chain, where financial deficits are found in each link that will need to be reduced or eliminated through technology advancements, subsidies, or changes in market conditions in order to provide the conditions necessary for the technology to achieve mass-market acceptance and positive financial returns.