Business model innovation opportunities in the Dutch downstream photovoltaic industry

This thesis provides insight in the characteristics of photovoltaic business models and how they relate to policy instruments and design considerations. Business models illustrate the rationale of how organizations create, delivers and capture value. The business model approach and more specifically the business model canvas is a tool that is widely used by academics, entrepreneurs and consultants to map out how organizations work and how different characteristics such as value proposition and distribution channels relate to each other. By studying professional and academic literature on (downstream photovoltaic) business models, a set of six categories are selected. These categories vary from straight forward project providers where customers purchase a small photovoltaic installation to complex business models that include third party ownership and even aggregation of distributed electricity generators that are clustered as a virtual power plant. The research shows that the business model canvas approach is a valuable tool to assess and describe photovoltaic business models. This thesis unveils that major differences in business models are present between first-party and third-party ownership. The latter projects are often financed by banks, utilities or investment funds that maintain much higher standards in quality control, risk mitigation and are less comfortable with dealing with unstable policy environments. It also becomes clear that third party business models can only succeed in an environment with stable policies and proper access to financing. As feed-in-tariffs and long term power purchasing agreements are getting less common in mature market, another wave of business model shuffling can be expected in the solar industry. More uncertain revenue streams, curtailment and electricity market exposure will lead to new models with a different kind of investors. Although utility companies have not yet played a major role in the photovoltaic industry, they do have competitive advantages in the coming years as they have experience with energy trading