“From solar panels a decade ago to energy storage today, the history of clean tech is littered with capital-intrensive concepts poised to radically alter the relationship between industrialized society and the environment,“ wites Laura Hepler at GreenBiz. “But why do these widely heralded breakthroughs always seem to limp along so slowly when it comes to actually hitting the market?
The dreaded ‘valley of death' between conception and commercialization is one increasingly recognized explanation, dooming novel technologies to relegation in never-ending pilot projects as follow-on investment lags.
For Mark Johnson, the Department of Energy's resident innovation expert, the real problem often boils down to production. That is, not just inventing a new energy-centric technologies, but making sure those new tools can be reliably made in a cost-effective manner.
"We can do a lot to invent new technologies relevant to energy," Johnson, director of the DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Office, told GreenBiz. "But where you get those real breakthrough adoption moments is when the technology drives to the point where it reaches cost parity because of manufacturing innovation."
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