DOI
10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.053

Summary
This study is concerned with China’s solar photovoltaic (PV) industry. They have become the global market leader in terms of ‘newly added capacity’, however, this success has been hindered by market diffusion and lack of adoption. The barriers and ‘inducement mechanisms’ are assessed through the lens of technological innovation. Zou et al. have applied a Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) approach.

The study begins by describing the successful development of PV as a viable source of renewable energy and goes on to describe the development of successful PV installation projects as well as their dominant position in the manufacturing of PV cells. Zou et al. provide a critical overview of China’s PV solar industry in section 2. Here, the current status of PV, the characteristics and evolution of PV and the policy framework that impact PV are reviewed. In section 3, Zou et al. describes the issues faced in China’s PV market development. Section 4 involves the mapping the functional patterns of the solar PV TIS and the authors finish with their concluding remarks on China’s PV market.

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
The relevance of this paper to complex systems knowledge is its contribution to energy systems literature. The use of the TIS approach is common throughout similar papers and this paper claims to satisfy the missing link in previous related analysis studies to ground themselves in the theoretical framework. However, the paper does not appear to offer any further significance than its related document (linked in Zotero): How China became a leader in solar PV: An innovation system analysis by Huang et al.

Point of Strength
The study provides an in-depth analysis of China’s PV industry using the TIS approach. The significance of this study to PV literature is high as China have become the global leader of PV innovation. However, apart from its general attention to the TIS of solar PV in China, the study is highly detailed on market dynamics and may not be entirely relevant to reimagining the approach to higher education. That being said, the Chinese case may be used as a valuable teaching resource from a European perspective on market specific teaching on PV technology.

Figures 7, 8 and 9 present themselves as possible useful examples pf visual aids for system relationships of TIS functions.