04. Conveniente, giusto o affidabile? Il fotovoltaico e le logiche della diffusione di un’innovazione

Large-scale application of photovoltaic technology for the production of electricity has recently experienced strong development. As of 2008, many families and many Italian companies have made considerable investments in this sector, using an incentive program called Conto energia. The main research question emerged from the empirical recognition of this phenomenon, concerning the reasons why it has spread in Italy with various levels of intensity and means. Stimulated by this question, the analysis has been projected onto a much broader range of interpretation. It has dealt with the issue of the diffusion of innovations, reflecting on the mechanisms and factors that determine its characteristics and trajectories. Therefore, some theoretical models widely discussed in recent decades, in the field of economic sociology and the sociology of organization, have returned to the forefront. On this basis, it has been possible to compare the different rationales that that guide the decision-making, in a field of innovation marked by uncertainty, as occurred during the photovoltaic diffusion process. The logic of reliability – fueled by cognitive and fiduciary resources that are produced by social and inter-organizational networks, with the decisive intervention of subjects acting as intermediaries – has been largely analyzed and has received significant empirical support.