화학공학소재연구정보센터
Energy Policy, Vol.27, No.6, 317-329, 1999
Generating interest, generating power: commercializing photovoltaics in the utility sector
Conventional views of the innovation adoption process promote knowledge, and technical knowledge in particular, as a key precursor to generating interest among potential adopters. "The more you know, the better" serves as a generic rule of thumb. In commercializing photovoltaics (PVs) in the utility sector, this approach deserves serious questioning. This research provides a parallel study of utility adopters of PVs (N = 65) and non-adopters (N = 317) to demonstrate how different the two groups are. The statistical analysis demonstrates strong support for the hypothesis that familiarity is a critical link in predicting interest toward photovoltaics for the non-adopter group, while technical knowledge figures much more prominently for the adopters. Photovoltaics have been heralded widely as the future of electricity generation, and commercialization efforts to date have over-emphasized factors that affect early adopters while ignoring softer influences that may incite non-adopters to invest. By invoking programs that promote small scale experiments and risk reduction by following the lead of other successful trials, the chances of long term success are much improved.