Innovation and production in the global solar photovoltaic industry

The global development of solar photovoltaic power is seen as a potentially major technology in the pursuit of alternative energy sources. Given its evolutionary nature, in terms of both technology and the market, there is some discernible divergence between the innovative capability and production capacity of certain countries. We set out in the present study to explore this issue by examining the productive and innovative performance of six countries covering the period from 1996 to 2006. Our empirical analyses, at both country level and firm level, provide a strong indication that such tendency of incongruence possibly comes as a result of differences in the business strategies adopted by the various countries, as well as the extent of their technological advantage. © 2012 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary.