Antecedents of Creating Business Models in the Field of Renewable Energy Based on the Concept of the New Age of Innovation

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify the antecedence of business models for the renewable energy sector, characterise their concepts and structure, and assess the importance of innovation in the creation of value for the customer and for the business in the examined business models. According to the concept of K. Prahalad and M. S. Krishnan, an operational business model consists of three basic components. The first two are social architecture and technical architecture that represent specific resources. The third component comprises business processes. The operating business model according to the principles of the New Era of Innovation was used. The business models were presented as case studies of the following: a photovoltaic farm, a passive building and a local (communal) biogas plant. A desk research method was employed as well as triangulation of the research methods of non-participant observation, unstructured interview and business documentation review, in order to develop the case studies. The identification of antecedents for business models in renewable energy generation allows the argument that the business model can be treated as a system for the configuration of resources and interdependent activities, emphasising the role of the configuration of tangible and intangible elements. As the presented business models have been active for a relatively limited time, changes in competence and human capital attitudes, as well as social acceptance for those models, are not examined here. The absence of the upper and lower performance limit of the optimisation algorithm, or system variables, may be an interesting area for further research.