Investigating Technological Advancement Strategies for the Innovation Impact of Alternative Energy Patents

Although the importance of technological advancement in facilitating successful transitions to alternative energy is well recognized, the study of technological advancement strategies has been elusive. This study aims to investigate the technological advancement strategies for inventing alternative energy technologies by using patent data. This study empirically examines relationships between forward citation counts and the results of invention activities such as the degree and type of technological advancement (diversification), as well as other bibliographic information about the patent. Specifically, this study considers both the degree and the type of technological advancement of the patents, taking into account the scale and scope of technological knowledge. Finally, the study confirms the heterogeneous relationships between innovation impact and technological advancement in each field of alternative energy. It was confirmed that the innovation impact of patents related to wind energy was more significantly associated with the degree of technological advancement than that of patents related to other fields of alternative energy. In the case of patents related to fuel cells and biofuel, diversification of technological advancement was associated with a higher innovation impact. In the case of solar and hydro energy, specialization of technological advancement was found to be related to a higher innovation impact.