The development of photovoltaic installations was also promoted for industrial policy reasons which led to a more consistent and less erratic support programme of the energy system than in the Netherlands (Vasseur and Kemp, 2011). Policies should support a wide range of technologies and cover an innovation portfolio, not only particular steps in the value chain (Grubler et al., This resulted in a wider and stringer innovation system in Germany, also due to higher R&D support by the government.