Exploring the barriers and strategies of the innovation phase: a case study in renewable energy technologies

Abstract

More than ever, there is a growing importance of renewable energy technology (RET) as a part of the global energy source. With the increasing need of a cleaner energy and abundance incentives from the government, the evolution of innovating firms who are developing radical innovations related to RET products has been expanding, especially in the Netherlands. However, there is usually a long time frame in the innovation phase in which the innovative technological principle is translated into a viably commercialised product. This is due to the occurrence of certain barriers that may hamper the development of the product and thus, innovative products may fail even before entering the market.

In this research, we aim to identify the barriers that can occur and inhibit the innovation phase and analyse the strategies that can be implemented in order to remove or circumvent these barriers, which will lead to an initial framework of barriers and strategies for the innovation phase. In order to reach this objective, a three-stage methodological approach has been followed, consisting of literature review, conceptual framework development, and case studies. From this research, we have developed an adapted framework of barriers and strategies for the development of a new, high-tech product in the innovation phase. It was found that there are barriers that can persist in the innovation phase from the product perspective as well as infrastructure perspective and there are strategies that are found to be implemented in the innovation phase to remove or circumvent these barriers. This research has contributed to more knowledge and insights in terms of the nature of the innovation phase, the complex dynamic between the barriers and strategies, and the influence of these barriers on the time frame and processes of said phase.