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From Research Discoveries to Market: Five Steps to Commercialization

From the 2007 Research Review.

The meaning of the word "commercialization" is simple: it means moving a new technology, product, or process from its conceptual stage to the marketplace. At a research laboratory like NREL, that "conceptual stage" is usually a research discovery, but the ultimate goal is still a commercial product. And though we take stock of our progress in the number of technical reports published, patents awarded, and technologies licensed, we realize that these are just milestones on the path toward commercialization.

However, that path to commercialization can be quite complex. We know the general path to follow to bring our innovations to the marketplace, but we also acknowledge that the path for any one product is rarely linear. Most entrepreneurs have plenty of tales to tell us about challenges that were overcome, seemingly simple steps that involved significant efforts, and frustrating setbacks that were completely unforeseen. We've learned to handle setbacks along the way, because they often result in a better product. Finding new paths around roadblocks is part of the commercialization effort.

Accepting the possibility of hitting roadblocks, it is still possible to broadly trace the route to commercialization that most technologies will follow. Generally speaking, there are five major steps in this path: innovation, technology development, product development, commercial demonstration, and large-scale commercial deployment.

Let's take a closer look at those five steps, beginning with innovation. At NREL, innovations often spring from our research, which is our primary mission. An innovation could be a scientific finding that suggests the possibility of a commercial product, with no clear path to getting there, or it could be just a good new idea with commercial potential. So innovation can be the result of years of painstaking research or a single moment of brilliance.

Technology development is often the most challenging step, because it involves taking a discovery or idea and finding a way to make it work in the real world. But it's another area where NREL's scientists and engineers really shine. As the nation's applied research and development laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency, it is our forte and a central part of our mission for DOE. After all, for more than three decades, we have been starting with raw materials and knowledge and creating solar cells, wind turbine designs, biofuels, and a panoply of other energy technologies.

However, developing a commercial product out of a new technology is not our role, so that's when we bring in industry partners. These partners supply the business and manufacturing experience needed to create a successful product, and they also help take us to the next step, commercial demonstration. Along the way, we provide our technical expertise when needed, and we serve as objective experts who can analyze and test prototypes, validating their performance and suggesting areas for improvement, while also helping our partners to integrate their products into today's energy infrastructure.

When a demonstration is successful, the final step is the holy grail of commercialization, large-scale commercial deployment. That's what we're really after: not just making a niche product, but actually changing the way the world produces and uses energy. This is yet another area where NREL shines, as we have plenty of engineers with real-world experience who serve as advisors to project developers. Our work in high-performance buildings is a good example: we introduce designers and builders to new ideas, methods, and technologies that can lower the net energy use of buildings to near zero. If we're successful, those designers and builders carry those practices to every new building they work on.

And that's what NREL is all about—moving innovations from concepts to commercial products using our deep technical knowledge. The articles that follow present examples of this five-step path to commercialization.