The evolving role of standardisation in technological innovation: the case of photovoltaics

Despite the increasing awareness on the importance of standards in supporting technological innovation, there are limited understanding and empirical evidence on various roles of standards in supporting innovation activities and how they evolve over time, due to the complexity involved in innovation and standardisation. The current research carefully explores the evolving role of standardisation, through the historical study of standardisation in photovoltaics technology. Analysing archival documents and expert interviews both quantitatively and qualitatively, it is observed that various types of standards played different roles and functions to support different technological activities across its innovation journey. The study is expected to broaden the evidence base to inform standards organisations and policymakers in developing standardisation strategies to support technological innovation more effectively.