Photovoltaics and the National Park Service : an institutional analysis

Abstract

This paper is one of a series resulting from institutional analysis of photovoltaic (PV) acceptance. The case reported here involves the acceptance of PV by the National Park Service. As part of the Department of the Interior, the NPS is an agency exemplifying the federal nondefense sector. A modified organizational set model which concentrates on exchanges between and among organizational set elements, was used in this study. Though initially the inquiry from the Department of Energy to NPS to do a PV field test at a NPS site was considered the perturbation prompter, preliminary exploration showed an earlier perturbation-- the need for energy conservation. The differentiations which followed on this perturbation provided an envelope within which PV was subsequently considered and accepted. This envelope made an otherwise incomprehensible innovation more comprehensible by its association with an ongoing routine of acceptance of energy conservation initiatives. The critical role of the NPS's Denver Service Center as an innovation mediator is described. The DSC serves such a function routinely for the NPS, a reality which greatly enhances the likelihood of acceptance of innovations disseminated through this institutional entity.