Should BIPV technologies be empowered by innovation policy mix to facilitate energy transitions? - Revealing stakeholders' different perspectives using Q methodology

Abstract

As new renewable energy applications, building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) systems have significant potential to facilitate energy transitions towards renewable energy in highly urbanized countries, where large areas of land for developing large-scale solar or wind farms are limited. Government policy plays a significant role in nurturing and protecting energy innovations at the early development stage, such as BIPV. However, various actors could have divergent views on the policies for energy innovations, and policymakers need to consider these views in policymaking to avoid potential failures in policy implementation. By taking BIPV as an example, this study aims to reveal stakeholders' different perspectives on the required innovation policies for new energy technologies based on Q methodology. The results indicate even though stakeholders share similar views on some aspects of BIPV policies, four significantly distinct policy perspectives on BIPV exist in stakeholders' mindsets, including supervisory support, intensively investigate, cautiously stimulate and proactively promote. These policy perspectives require significantly different approaches to promote BIPV, which indicates the complexity in formulating one set of policy mix catering for the various mindsets of stakeholders. This study has both theoretical contributions to innovation policy mix for energy transitions, and policy implications for promoting energy innovations, especially BIPV worldwide.