Renewable Energy Research PartnershipSupporting SME Clusters in PV within

and across EU Regions

Prof. Dr. Gudrun JaegersbergUniv of Zwickau /Univ. Of DresdenSaxony/ Germany

Jenny UreSchool of InformaticsUniv. of EdinburghScotland/ UK

Partner Regions / Univ. Industry, Govt.

Core EU Partners Saxon Region (Germany) Valencia Region (Spain) Lombardy Region (Italy) Scotland (Edinburgh,

Aberdeen)

Non EU partners Perth region (W. Australia) Parana region (Brazil)

The Challenge

The rapid growth of the PV sector offers economic opportunities for Europe that must be seized now unless they are to be ceded to other regions of the world. The coming years will be decisive for the future role of the European PV industry.

SMEs are central to EU economy and innovation in this area, yet they..

are not well supported / integrated in regional or transregional clusters – fragmented support by University, in research and training– little representation in policy fora and larger operators

lack shared technical infrastructure– to support consortia, despite EGEE and other EU platforms

lack shared strategies standards, practices, protocols that are SME friendly– despite development of these for SMEs in some other energy

sectors (PILOT, ITF)

Problem Context: Builds on previous projects in comparable sectors and regions

Benchmarking SME integration and innovation scenarios in the oil and gas supply chain

Integrating SMEs in the automotive supply chain to enhance benefits for local SMEs and global operators

Aligning distributed technical and human networks in large-scale Grid collaborations

Mapping gaps and barriers in socio-technical systems

e.g. Benchmarking SME integration and innovation scenarios in the oil and gas supply

chain (W. Australia/ Scotland)

Benchmarking Evolving Models of Competitiveness and Innovation

cost-cutting model - at expense of SMEs in the supply chain (UK LOGIC/CRINE Initiative)

innovation based model - dependent on integration and support for SMEs in teh suppy chain (UK PILOT Initiative)

http://www.logic-oil.com/http://www.pilottaskforce.co.uk/

Benchmarking Recurring Problem: Solution Scenarios…

Problems in W. Australia Solutions Used from UKCritical gaps in communication with other stakeholders in education, industry and government

lon future focus of strategic development by influential players, where SMEs can target limited resourceslon policylon R&Dlon training

lBenchmarking solutions in mature regions (PILOT)lSHARE fair for early sight of LME strategic development planslHigh level steering cttee to support SME integrationlJoint working with regional Universities to map and manage communication networks

Ownership of Innovation, and opportunities to implement it

lIP issues meant few benefits from resource investedlSupport for development from Univ. and regional government poorly coordinated

l communication of emerging SME innovations to LMESlBenchmark UK best practices to support innovation in SMEs in Oil and Gas

SME vulnerability to changes in costs, risks, liability for delay, cash-flow

lSMEs squeezed out and supply chain lost nice knowledge and practice based innovation

Benchmark templates in UK and Norway for regulating payments to SMEs

Core and local standards

Cultural differences in implementation of ‘standard’ systems

Benchmarking recurring ‘soft’ problem: solution scenarios e.g.

Difficulty of implementing standards across different social, organisational, economic contexts

e.g. applying core EU safety compliance procedures made the plant more unsafe, as it was perceived as inappropriate, and thus ignored by staff

Core and local standards, managed and implemented locally

Differences in implementation and performance of systems in different regions and in different communities

e.g. ‘Just in time’ assembly lines designed in EU context where time and space very tightly coordinated, but poorly implemented in regions (Curitiba) where time and space are not at a premiume.g. procurement systems often not correctly followed. Local social ‘workarounds’ preferred, so ‘official’ procurement records were often wrong, leading to costly assembly line failures, flying in parts etc.

Two way exchange of staff and students to raise awareness and facilitate reading of problems and response to them

e.g. SME integration and innovation in the automotive industry (Germany: Brazil)

Aligning distributed networks to add value. (technical, social, organisational)

Identifying socio-technical and cross-cultural issues in trans-regional collaboration*

barriers to SME integration in the supply chain

addressing these issues through trans-regional research, placement, training networks

*Link to refs.

Recurring Socio-technical Problem: Solution Recurring Socio-technical Problem: Solution Scenarios at Different Stages in Supply ChainScenarios at Different Stages in Supply Chain

the distributed human process

the distributed technical process

Saxony

Proposal to extend preliminary resarch in Proposal to extend preliminary resarch in these issues in currently emerging these issues in currently emerging

trans:regional PV clusterstrans:regional PV clusters

Valencia

Lombardy

Rome

Scotland

Initial findings in partner regions indicate emerging issues such as…

Political and Legal factors such as feed in tariffs, tax laws affecting investment/profits

Lack of Quality Assurance standards

Lack of skills / training

Lack of coordination with educational, governmental and industry stakeholders

continued.. Lack of unified systems and processes,

combined with excessive bureaucracy Lack of a unified voice in lobbying regional

and national government Lack of a platform/forum for

accessing/disseminating information Emerging clusters leveraging different

regional strengths (e.g. Krannich)

Issues also evident in other studies

Report by the Photovoltaic Technology

Research Advisory Council

(PV-TRAC)

Also - emerging transregional clusters of SMEs are now leveraging different regional strengths in new ways

GermanySpain, ItalyEngineering & R&D strengths

Assembly & Marketing strengths

Aims of the Proposal

1. Extend stakeholder analysis of gaps, barriers and explore emerging transregional cluster model

2. Support sharing and reuse of recurring problem: solution scenarios

3. Develop a jointly recognised R&D module (case studies developed by students on placement between partner regions) that can be combined with onsite modules reflecting regional knowledge.

4. Explore requirements for Cloud platforms to provide scalable and SME friendly vehicles for collaboration in R&D

1. Stakeholder analysis

To identify gaps, barriers and opportunities to integration of SME clusters with and across regions

In particular, for emerging trans-regional ‘brokerage’ models

To support collaborative action research with regional stakeholders as a basis for policy within and across EU regions

Universities

SMEsGovt. Organisations

Identifying Costs and Benefits of Different Cluster / VO Structures

Pilot research highlighted transient models of SME-led collaboration across regions which could be supported (Link to reports/publications)

2: Mapping Recurring Problems and Solutions at different stages in the PV supply chain

Jan Brunner(2008) Der Spanische Fotovoltaiksektor - Gaps & Barriers (Internal Report, August 2008) In Jaegersberg G., and Ure J.,Project Report.

  

Informing research policy and practice through collaborative action research

growth maturity decline

2: Benchmarking Recurring Problem:Solution Scenarios as before e.g.PILOT/ITF – WA

WA UK North Sea (Pilot / ITF)

3. Joint research and training development to fill skills gap.

Leveraging diverse regional expertise to provide competitive online professional development, and knowledge transfer, building on case study placements in partner regions

Spain

W. Australia

BrazilGermany

ItalyUK?

demand for CPD in an evolving, knowledge-based market need for ‘portable’ qualifications/credit transfer need to benchmark ‘best practice’ need for international partnerships opportunities to facilitate adoption of shared standards opportunities for strategic alignment of diverse strengths cost barriers for SMEs in these areas opportunities for transfer of solutions to recurring problems opportunities to learning from regions at different stages of

maturity

Benefits

Local centres R&D

EuropeanHPC centres Policy

4: Explore potential to leverage EU Investment in trans-regional ICT platforms (Grid/Cloud)

Develop requirements for SMEs in renewables consortia across regions

• with the construction industry• with partners in other regions• with research consortia• with project specific consortia

National/ regional centres Knowledge Transfer through

Universities

Taskforce: Towards a new level of High Performance Computing facilities for EuropeTaskforce: Towards a new level of High Performance Computing facilities for Europe P.J.C. Aerts, K. Koski, F. LozanoP.J.C. Aerts, K. Koski, F. Lozano

Interacts with

Goes to

Contributes toDelivers

Prepares / agreesSupport delivery of

Implements, complies with & uses

VEVE NetworkNetworkProductor serviceProduct

or service

......StandardsStandards

ICT platformICT platformProceduresProcedures

Enterprise(legal entity)Enterprise

(legal entity)

CustomerCustomer

Participates inLeadsInitialises

Coordinatesco-delivery of

Shares,collaborates using

Karvonen, I. 2005

Leveraging earlier EU projects on VOs

Addressing Strategic EU Issues

‘a paradigm change is needed in which EU values such as Unity in Diversity are preserved in a new social

and economic model that supports SMEs’

alternative models for achieving competitiveness through innovation

sustainable economic, social and environmental renewal

role of SMEs in both of these

Lisbon Agreement/GothenburgAgreement /Aho Report to the EC

‘a paradigm change is needed in which EU values such as Unity in Diversity are preserved in a new social and economic model that supports SMEs’