Article by Stefan Grobbelaar, Von Seidels and
co-authored by Sara S. Grobbelaar, Centre for Research on
Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST), Stellenbosch
University
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA, 2011) the
quest for improving cost competitiveness for Renewable Energy
Technologies (RET) brings with it a range of investment
opportunities. Cost reductions in wind and solar especially are
expected to lead to the wider roll-out of such technologies.
As depicted in figure 1, the stage of development and
technology-life-cycle of various RETs has implications for the
nature of government support as well as industry investment in
terms of commercialisation. The respective roles of
government and the private sector are pointed out in
Technology Diffusion through Intellectual Property Rights:
Innovating to Combat Climate Change (Du Plooy,
2013)1. Du Plooy contends that general early stage
research is best supported publicly, while in later stages
