Abstract—Wind power has become a pillar of the energy systems in 100 countries and is recognized as a reliable and affordable source of electricity. Understanding technological innovation of wind energy is very important for a firm to build competitive advantage in the wind energy sector. This study aims to investigate three issues related to innovation capability and network position of technological innovation in the wind energy based on a firm level analysis. This study measures technological innovation from patent dataset comprised of all patents granted by the U.S. Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO) to assignees in wind energy from 1976 to 2012. Three empirical findings were shown as follows: Firstly, there was a marked growth tendency of patents in wind energy after 2006, peaking in 2012. General Electric firm owns the greatest innovation capability in wind energy. Secondly, there are high interrelationships among different firms in the innovation network of wind energy.
Finally, there are obviously differences among network position from results of four centrality indicators. United Technologies firm owns the most important network position in innovation network of wind energy from two centrality indicators, and Vestas Wind Systems firm occupies the most important network position from the other two centrality indicators. General Electric firm doesn’t own the important network position from four centrality indicators.
Relation:
Journal of Automation and Control Engineering, 3(2), 105 - 108
