Innovation and institutional change: the transition to a sustainable ...

114 Chapter 4
Table 4.6 Evolution of installed capacity of PV in the Netherlands41 (in
MW/p)
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Several observations regarding PV development and implementation can be
made. PV technology has been able to develop through a process of niche
cumulation:
– Early developments and applications for PV originate in space programs
(first market niche), with NASA and US companies as driving actors, and
were also facilitated by research from the electronics industry on
semiconductors;
– The oil crisis directed attention towards potential for power production,
early applications are mainly stand-alone DC systems (second market
niche);
– Grid connected systems increased when AC-DC conversion was
facilitated, although connection to the grid incorporates extra costs as
compared to autonomous systems (third niche);
– Building-integrated PV has become the major market for PV in the past
decade. Efforts have resulted in cost reductions, performance
improvements, the development of new integration products and the
creation of a network with utilities, property developers, architects,
building companies and local authorities (Schoen, 2001).
Also the network of actors involved in PV has significantly broadened in the
past decade. The main developments can be characterised as follows:
– In early projects, frontrunners regarding PV application such as the
energy companies of North-Holland and Amsterdam were driven by
41 Data based on CBS (2004) except for 2004 data from the International Energy Agency
website, http://www.oja-services.nl/iea-pvps/isr/index.htm, accessed 4 July 2005.