Abstract
Photovoltaics is still a niche technology, accounting for a low proportion of electricity generation. Combining an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) with the analytic hierarchy process, we discuss the prospects and challenges relating to photovoltaics in Austria, when attempting to move from a niche level to a regime level change in energy transition. In carrying out this hybrid method, a set of pre-defined SWOT factors were judged by experts by means of pairwise comparisons. As results reveal, strengths and opportunities outweigh weaknesses and threats. According to the experts, financial and technological considerations dominate over environmental and social issues. Hence, characteristics such as rapid reduction in module costs, technological progress and low economies of scale imply that significant promise may be assigned to photovoltaics in terms of its expected contribution to the transformation of our energy system.
Highlights
ÖKOLOGISCHE PERSPEKTIVEN FÜR WISSENSCHAFT UND GESELLSCHAFTGAIA is available online at www.ingentaconnect.com/content/oekom/gaia www.oekom.de | B 54649 | ISSN 0940-5550 | GAIAEA 24/1, 1–72 (2015)
The multi-level perspective (MLP) of socio-technical systems to photovoltaics in Austria, when attempting to move from a niche (Geels 2002) provides a good starting point for gaining a more level to a regime level change in energy transition
The niche level plays a central role in progress and low economies of scale imply that significant the emergence of novel technologies (Kemp et al 1998)
Summary
GAIA is available online at www.ingentaconnect.com/content/oekom/gaia www.oekom.de | B 54649 | ISSN 0940-5550 | GAIAEA 24/1, 1–72 (2015). We have to determine and analyze the most important circumstances and conditions that might foster PV technology and contribute to a change at the regime level, that is, the relevant regulations, norms, user practices, policies, etc. To this end, we carried out an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) and combined it with an analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The evaluation and quantification of the respective factors is based on a dataset of expert opinions Such an integrated SWOT-AHP approach has not yet been applied in the context of energy transitions, and provides us with a systematic assessment of how domain-specific experts evaluate the role of photovoltaics in energy transition in Austria
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