Title of Dissertation: national renewable energy policy

Figure 7. 
Solar PV value chain. 
This diversity in solar businesses has led to the differences in perceptions of the 
external environment among solar corporations. Most notably, the external environment 
of upstream solar PV corporations is different from that of downstream solar PV 
corporations. For instance, transmission and interconnection rights, approvals and permits 
for building power plants are important parts of the external environment of the 
downstream corporation. However, these are not significant issues for the upstream 
corporations. In this sense, each corporation has different policy needs based on the type 
of solar business of it is involved in. Under these circumstances, the solar PV industry 
has become engaged in more policy issues as the value chain of solar PV has developed 
and expanded, addressing diversifying policy needs of each corporation. 
Due to these diversified interests of solar corporations, some policy issues cause 
conflicts of interests even within solar PV industry. For instance, the tariff on Chinese 
solar panels in the U.S. caused debates between upstream and downstream solar PV 
corporations. Since the tariff would reduce the imports of low-priced Chinese solar 
panels, the upstream corporations were supportive for the introduction of the tariff. 
However, the reduction of Chinese solar panels was expected to harm the downstream 

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corporations by increasing overall cost of solar panels. This difference has caused the 
conflict of interests in the U.S. solar PV industry. 
The development of the solar PV value chain has expanded and diversified solar 
PV industry’s interests and policy needs. Moreover, it also generated the conflicts of 
interests between corporations within solar PV industry. This has changed the 
interactions between industry and policies in renewable energy field. These changes of 
interactions are analyzed throughout this research.
Global political economy and renewable energy 
 
Renewable energy does not exist in a vacuum. In recent years, various 
international and domestic political factors have affected the development of renewable 
energy. The global financial crisis was one of the most influential events affecting 
renewable energy development. Rising exports of Chinese products has been another 
factor to affect renewable energy development. 
In 2009, a year after the global financial crisis, global total final energy 
consumption was reduced by 1% compared to 2008, which was the first time reduction 
since 1981.
13
However, this did not last long; it started increasing again in 2010. 
Moreover, this momentary reduction of energy consumption did not significantly affect 
the growth of renewable energy. The consumption of renewable energy sources has 
dramatically increased every year in the most recent ten years including the years of the 
global financial crisis. 
13
International Energy Agency, “Statistics,” 
http://www.iea.org/statistics/
 (accessed 
March 30, 2017) 

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Discouraged energy investment caused by the global financial crisis has been a 
much more critical effect on renewable energy development. In 2009, energy investment 
dropped in most regions of the world. Many energy projects were slowed, postponed, or 
cancelled. The investment in renewable energy has slowed in 2008, and the spending for 
renewable energy in the first quarter of 2009 dropped by 42% compared to the first 
quarter of 2008.
14
This dramatic drop was caused by the lack of project finances and the 
reduced economic incentives to invest in renewables due to low fossil fuel prices.
15
Rising exports of Chinese products introduced increasing international trade 
conflicts in recent years. In particular, the conflicts between the United States and China 
became more significant as the U.S. trade deficit with China increased in recent decades. 
The gap between imports and exports in the U.S. with China has widened to $240 billion 
in 2009 from $112 billion in 2000.
16
This has led to much debate on the imports from 
China in the United States. The report of the Peterson Institute for International 
Economics showed that the number of newspaper articles mentioning the U.S. trade 
deficit with China has dramatically increased in 2005-2007, and in 2010.
17
Under these circumstances, the trade disputes between the U.S. and China have 
risen. By the end of 2016, 10 cases were submitted to the WTO by China with the U.S., 
14
International Energy Agency, 
The Impact of the Financial and Economic Crisis on 
Global Energy Investment
, IEA Background paper for the G8 Energy Ministers’ Meeting, 
May 24-25, 2009. 
15
International Energy Agency, World Energy Outlook 2009, Paris: IEA. 2009. 
http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/media/weowebsite/2009/WEO2009.pdf. 
16
Hufbauer, Gary Clyde, and Jared C. Woollacott. 
Trade Disputes Between China and 
the United States: Growing Pains so Far, Worse Ahead?
Peterson Institute for 
International Economics, Working Paper Series, December 2010. 
17
Ibid., p48. 

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and 20 cases were submitted by the U.S. with China.
18
The submission of disputes started 
increasing in 2007 (Figure 8). The U.S. submitted 1-3 disputes with China every year 
from 2007 to 2012. China also submitted disputes every year since 2007 till 2013 except 
the year of 2010. One of the drivers of these disputes was the increasing unemployment 
in the U.S., which has led the U.S. government to attempt to preserve American industry 
and jobs.