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European Research Politics, Techno-Scientific Networks and a North-South Comparison in the Case of Photovoltaics

Wed, September 4, 2:45 to 4:15pm, Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, Floor: Four, Bayside B

Abstract

The paper examines the case of the European research politics in the photovoltaic sector. The analysis covers the period of 1975-2017 with an emphasis on EU funding schemes and their role in the making of the relevant industry. We illustrate the dynamic relation between the various actors from different countries while connecting them to the respective technological researches, the research traditions and capabilities at national and regional level as well as the transnational politics of raw materials necessary for photovoltaic cells/modules. In order to understand the current, on-going, (energy) sustainability transitions it is important to analyse the choices made at a research policy level. Towards this end, our analysis primarily draws from the EU research policy funding programmes, while offering examples from transnational competitions with the US, Japan and China aiming to place the European research policies within the context-and-as result of the international research politics.
We argue that in order to comprehend the current differences on sustainable energy transitions across countries, we need to examine the dynamics of the funded research techno-scientific networks in the context of a cultural political economy for research and innovation (CPERI), which offers new methodological tools for analysing (energy) transitions. Towards this end, the paper addresses the following questions: What has been the role of EU research policy in fostering the photovoltaic energy transition? How has the dynamics of the photovoltaic techno-scientific networks changed overtime, and what insights do they offer about the North-South differences or the North-South division within Europe and beyond?

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