German industrial policy and the rise of the solar power industry

European industrial policy and unique national advantage

Abstract

Although Japanese companies, such as Sharp and Kyocera, were leaders in innovation within the solar power industry, their positions were rapidly overtaken by Germany and young companies experiencing rapid growth, such as Germany’s Q-Cells, China’s Suntech Power, and USA’s First Solar. How has Germany’s solar industry, with its new companies, been able to achieve such rapid development in such a short time? To understand these topics, this paper conducts a case study of German industrial policy and two newly formed companies: Q-Cells and First Solar.