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AGRIC. ECON. CZECH, 58, 2012 (9): 425–432 425
The energy demand has grown strongly and it will
continue to increase. According to the International
Energy Agency (IEA 2006a, b) estimates, the world
energy demand will increase by half again between
the present and 2030. At the present time, the primary
energy sources are dominated by the fossil fuels, with
nearly 80% of the global energy demand supplied
from crude oil, natural gas, and coal (Rathore and
Panwar 2007).
Renewable energy sources (RES) which can be
used to produce energy again and again will make it
possible to resolve the presently most crucial tasks:
–improving the energy supply reliability
–solving the problems of local energy and water supply
–increasing the standard of living
–increasing the level of employment of the local
population
–ensuring sustainable development.
Renewable energies are of major importance to
all EU countries. They create a significant employ-
ment in education, R&D, consultancy, engineering,
agriculture, finance and government. The sector net
employment growth is expected to be 1660000 by
2010 with the total of 2463000 new jobs by 2020.
The current and future shortage of a skilled person-
nel in the renewable energy-related occupations is a
major obstacle to the success of the RES development
(Valkila and Saari 2010). The Ministry of Education,
Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic declares that
there is a lack of 40000 of higher skilled personnel for
the RES sector for the near future, so that the Czech
Republic could be competitive in the European space.
European countries have been in the forefront and a
number of studies suggest a substantial job potential.
A modelling exercise supported by the EU found that
under the current policies, there could be a net gain
New businesses for small and medium entrepreneurs
(SMEs) in the Renewable Energy Sources (RES)
Jaroslav HAVLÍČEK, Martin PELIKÁN, Tomáš ŠUBRT
Department of Systems Engineering, Faculty of Economics and Management,
University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Abstract: e development of renewable energy producers in rural areas creates new job opportunities for the countryside
population. e decentralized manner of renewable energy in small cities is one of the ways how to meet the rural and
small scale energy needs in a reliable, aff ordable and environmentally sustainable way. In 2010, the Czech University of Life
Sciences Prague has fi nished the participation in the European IEE project RES COMPASS. In mutual cooperation, with
seven partners from the Great Britain, France, Spain, Greek and Finland, the University has been involved in the extensive
research concerning the impact of the Renewable Energy Sources (RES) on the future European labour market. e RES
COMPASS project meets the objectives expressed by the New Skills for New Jobs Initiative of the EU and stressed also oth-
er initiatives, namely the Green Jobs Initiative, the UNEP initiative as well as the requirements of the International Trade
Union Confederation and the International Organization of Employers in 2008. e RES COMPASS programme strategy
was based on the implementation steps in three mutually supportive components: e fi rst component Comparative analy-
sis of the methods of identifi cation of skill needs on the future labour market based on the renewable energy sources was
concerned in the young generation of the today’s students. e second component Career Orientation test was developed
as a tool for the potential young people thinking about a future career in the emerging area of renewable energy. e third
component focused on the future business opportunities for small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) in the RES sector.
e paper informs about fi ndings of the third component New businesses for SMEs in the RES. Realistic possibilities of the
development of SMEs appear to exist in the provision of more complex services reacting to (1) needs of more rapid renova-
tion of the morally depreciated devices, (2) interest of inhabitants and producers in the installations of at least two diff er-
ent autonomous alternative energy sources, (3) creation of informal groups of users who will share various energy sources,
(4)need to support the installation of energy devices with other measures – energy audits and projects.
Key words: renewable energy sources (RES), market job opportunities, small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs), question-
in g, managed interview, shared RES
Supported by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic (Project No. QF 3259) and the Ministry of Education,
Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (Project No. MSM 6046070904).
426 AGRIC. ECON. CZECH, 58, 2012 (9): 425–432
of 950.000 direct and indirect full-time equivalent
(FTE) jobs by 2010 and 1.4 million by 2020. Under
the “Advanced Renewable Strategy” there could be
1.7 million net jobs by 2010 and 2.5 million by 2020
(EC 2003a, b). About 60–70% of the jobs would be
in the renewables industries (primarily biofuels and
biomass processing and wind power), the remainder
in agriculture (WWF 2009; Kirtay 2011). Similarly,
the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC)
argues that by raising the share of renewable energy
to 20% of the EU’s energy consumption by 2020, the
number of green jobs could rise to more than 2 mil-
lion (Balachandra et al. 2010).
When it comes to energy efficiency, a comprehen-
sive study by the Association for the Conservation
of Energy in the UK found that per € 1 million of the
total expenditure (both government and private),
the energy efficiency programmes typically resulted
in 8 to 14 additional person- years of employment
(Jacobson and Delucchi 2010).
e development of renewable energy producers in
rural areas creates new job opportunities and minimizes
the migration towards urban areas (Panwara et al.
2011). e decentralized manner of renewable energy
in small cities is one of the ways how to meet the rural
and small scale energy needs in a reliable, aff ordable
and environmentally sustainable way (IEA 2006a).
In 2010, the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
has finished the participation in the international
IEA project RES COMPASS. In mutual cooperation,
with partners form the Great Britain, France, Spain,
Greek, and Finland, the University has been involved
in the extensive research concerning the impact of
renewable sources of energy (RES) on the future
European labour market. Aspecial attention was paid
to the cooperation and knowledge sharing among all
involved partners in the field of early identification of
the entrepreneurs´ skills needed for successful entry
into the future RES markets. The project enhanced
understanding of the European labour market, social,
economic and environmental issues, the design of
the policies, programmes and tools in the RES field
of the entrepreneur’s skills identification.
The RES COMPASS project meets the objectives
expressed by the New Skills for New Jobs Initiative
of the EU and stressed also other initiatives, namely
the Green Jobs Initiative, the UNEP initiative as well
as the requirements of the International Trade Union
Confederation and the International Organization of
Employers in 2008.
Countries around the world face unparalleled chal-
lenges of changing situations in the labour market.
Skills shortages and skill gaps damage the productivity
and competitiveness and eventually have a number
of adverse economic effects at all levels: individual,
company, regional, and national. It is essential that
the potential skills mismatches, both in the terms of
skill shortages and skill gaps, are timely identified and
that the relevant skills response strategies are ensured
to mitigate the costs of economic restructuring.
Governments and social partners are looking both
for efficient exit strategies from the economic down-
turn as well as for longer term strategies to achieve
the sustainable development pathways. Skills re-
sponding strategies must go hand in hand with other
measures, both short- and long-term, to ensure the
availability of skills. The shortage of the green-collar
professionals with the cutting-edge skills in energy
efficiency, green engineering and green construction
has already been identified in a number of countries
as a major obstacle in implementing both the current
green stimulus packages and the longer-term national
strategies to cut the gas emissions.
The RES COMPASS programme strategy was based
on the implementation steps in three mutually sup-
portive components:
The first component Comparative analysis of meth-
ods of the identification of skill needs in the future
labour market based on the RES was concerned with
the young generation of the today’s students. The final
report has concluded the analysis with a number of
recommendations on the quantitative and qualita-
tive methods and institutional mechanisms for the
labour market assessment and signalling adjusted to
different needs and levels of education.
The second component Career Orientation test was
developed as a tool for the potential young people
thinking about a future career in the emerging area of
renewable energy. The RES Compass career decision
tool consists of a series of questions designed to iden-
tify which of the four Renewable Energy Sectors are
most suited to the interests and skills of the potential
young employee. The four sectors are: (1) Technicians
(Manufacturing & Construction and Operation &
Maintenance, (2) Technical Design Consultants &
Researchers (Technical Consultancy/ Design and
R&D/ Engineering), (3) Energy & Regulation Advisors
& Trainers (Policy/Planning advice and Energy man-
agement & advice/training, (4) Business Development
Executives (Business development & sales and market-
ing & media). Within each of the four career sectors,
the student discovers various types of the careers
available. Information is given on each career in the
form of a job profile which gives details on the job
and the tasks a person would perform, as well as the
skills and the training required to get started. The
test is freely available for all interested persons on
http://www.rescompass.org.
AGRIC. ECON. CZECH, 58, 2012 (9): 425–432 427
The third component focused on the future business
opportunities for small and medium entrepreneurs
(SMEs) in the RES sector. The study New businesses
for SMEs in the RES helps to shed light on the global
dimension of the developing RES sector which is
expected to influence the competitive market in this
green sector of economic behaviour.
The purpose of the paper is to inform about the
findings of the third component of the RES COMPASS
project New businesses for SMEs in the RES.
OBJECTIVES AND METHODS
Renewable energy sources (RES) provide a wide
range of opportunities for entrepreneurs across all
levels of manufacturing and services. All expert studies
agree that this area is not only going to preserve its
exclusive position within the market, but that it will
simultaneously expand its potential. Big entrepre-
neurs are not expected to encounter difficulties upon
entering the continuously changing entrepreneurial
environment of the RES – they may make use of the
available research and educational capacities which
allows them to adapt themselves easily to the chang-
ing requirements and new opportunities. However,
both small and medium-sized entrepreneurs lack
sufficient information and the subsequent delay in
terms of assuming new technological and managerial
proceedings may result in their decreased ability to
operate within the competitive environment in the
area of the RES.
The third component of the RES COMPASS project
was therefore aimed at ensuring a large scale research
monitoring the degree of awareness and the strategic
thinking ability concerning the prospective develop-
ment and market opportunities in the area of RES
with small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.
The EU norm (Commission Recommendation
2003/361/EC) advises to qualify enterprises within
the category of “Small and medium-sized enterprises”
if the number of employees is less than 150. The
research focused on “small” enterprises, i.e. those
employing 50 employees at the most and with the
annual turnover not exceeding € 10 million.
The research was carried out in 7 European part-
nership states; the Czech Republic, the Great Britain,
France, Spain, Greece and Finland for the period
October–November 2009.
The research was realized by the means of question-
naires. Questions were divided into two categories.
The first set of questions was common for all partici-
pant states and it served as a basis for the comparison
and analysis of the research results within the group
of the chosen European states. With the second cat-
egory of questions, it was up to the partners involved
in the project to choose the appropriate questions
depending upon the specific conditions of the given
country and its particular needs. The Czech partner,
i.e. the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague,
selected the set of questions related to the needs of
a further education (Havlíček et al. 2006).
The document, which served as the basis for all proj-
ect participants coming from the already mentioned
seven European, states was the above mentioned
Comparative analysis of methods of identification
of skill needs on the future labour market based on
the RES. This study was simultaneously elaborated
in the form of an information brochure that was sent
to all addressed small entrepreneurs from the target
group prior to the research initiation.
The research predicative value depends on the
number of properly filled in questionnaires. It was
therefore necessary to ensure that each participant
state had at least 20 selectively chosen enterprises
from the defined target group available for the final
elaboration. Considering the expected 20% response
rate (number of returned questionnaires), it was thus
indispensable to address about 100 entrepreneurs in
each of the participant states.
Research in the Czech Republic
The third component focusing on the prospective
business opportunities for SMEs in the RES sector
in the Czech Republic was highly important for the
Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague. The area
of RES is closely linked with both the content and
forms of education at each faculty and institute and it
offers an opportunity to introduce innovations within
the content and forms of courses, expanding the tui-
tion in distance learning and the expert cooperation
including training. Within the SME category, a small
enterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs
less than 50 persons and whose annual turnover and/
or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR
10 million.
With respect to the importance of research results
for a long-term university strategic development,
it was decided not to organize the research by the
means of sending questionnaires, but to employ the
method of the standardized “face-to-face” survey
interview conducted with the individual managers
of each selected enterprise. This decision was also
justified by a rather unsatisfactory experience from
the previous correspondence research that was done
through questionnaires: the response rate was about
15% and almost one third from the received answers
428 AGRIC. ECON. CZECH, 58, 2012 (9): 425–432
was unreliable and insufficient. Correspondence re-
search where the response rate becomes more or less
casual would not ensure a representative sample of
a group of small entrepreneurs under research with
respect to the area of their specialization in manu-
facturing and services and certain type of alternative
energy source.
The questionnaire research conducted by the means
of a standardized survey interview was executed by
postgraduate students.
Using the database of enterprises provided by the
Ministry of Industry and Trade CR, 30 small enter-
prises from different regions in the Czech Republic
that were suitable for the research were chosen. The
University representative (vice-rector) contacted by
phone the individual directors of each selected firm,
provided him/her with the information concerning
the European RES COMPASS project and asked him/
her about the possibility to conduct an interview on
the given subject. He explained that the necessity of
interview was motivated by an effort to innovate the
study programmes and the course content both in the
Czech Republic and in the foreign partner countries
engaged in the project. He as well informed the pro-
spective respondents that their firm would be visited
by a postgraduate student and that the interview may,
if necessary, enlarge its scope also in other areas, such
as the possibility of a mutual cooperation of the firm
and the university.
The management staff of the chosen firms was very
helpful and kind and the meeting with 24 firms was
without any difficulties arranged within a short time.
Research organization
The information which was supposed to be ob-
tained from the managers of the chosen firms was
formulated into alternative questions covering three
fundamental focus areas of the research:
(1)Findings concerning the extent to which the small
firm top managers operating in the area of renew-
able energy sources are informed about the current
development. The question was whether they are
well aware of the basic trends in the development
of new technologies, legislative measures and
whether they are able to formulate their own
idea as for the importance of RES for the future.
(2)What is their idea as for the development of RES in
their particular focus area and the future progress
of their enterprises. What are their expectations,
identification of opportunities or threats.
(3)What qualification they expect from their pro-
spective employees, i.e. the undergraduate or
graduate students.
Visiting the firm, questioning and preliminary
elaboration of the results of the standardized survey
interviews was in charge of postgraduate students.
All interviewers were acquainted with the objec-
tives of the RES COMPASS project as well as with a
partial objective formulated under the third research
component New businesses for SMEs in the RES.
Each interviewer tried out the process of question-
ing by the means of a simulation game: the teacher
represented a firm manager – expert, the student stood
for an interviewer. Students were told to study and
use the methodological rules for the use of language
operators for the quantification of the given answers
(Havlíček and Pelikán 2006). The student – interviewer
asked the previously prescribed questions which
s/he nevertheless adapted at her/his own discre-
tion. The teacher – expert answered the questions
and deliberately diverted from the discussed topic.
Students thus learned how to conduct the interview
considerately and skilfully.
Thus properly trained, the students set out for the
research. The transport was provided by the univer-
sity and paid from the project budget. In the course
of one day, each student conducted approximately
3–4 interviews.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Targ ets
The approach goals satisfaction should be expressed
by some metrics as one of the key indicators of both
the efficiency and effectiveness of the approach
(Beranková et al. 2008).
The standardized survey interview was carried out
in 24 Czech firms operating in the area of planning,
production and provision of services related to the
RES. Table 1 presents an overview and basic infor-
mation on the firms participating in the research:
The group did not include firms operating in the
area of wind turbines since this sector does not occupy
any significant position in the Czech Republic so far.
e selection of fi rms was carried out so that they
would primarily represent the particular regions. Only
2 out of all monitored fi rms had their seat and operated
in the capital city, 15 fi rms were seated in the regional
or district cities, 7 fi rms in the provincial environment.
All firm managers had university education in the
technical or economic field. According to the man-
agement, both technical and administrative staff had
an appropriate university or higher college education
in all monitored firms. Workers generally disposed
of a different kind of qualification or they were un-
AGRIC. ECON. CZECH, 58, 2012 (9): 425–432 429
skilled; they were trained on the continuous basis
on the firm’s costs.
The course of interviews
All students – interviewers – reported a positive
evaluation of the whole research. The interview was
in most cases attended by the firm directors or top
managers, the discussion was pleasant, helpful and
the interview usually exceeded the reserved half an
hour and it lasted even more than one hour.
After the end of the standardized survey interview,
there was usually a tour around the particular firm
and a further informal discussion – primarily related
to the problem of the education of graduate students,
and the students’ social and cultural needs.
After the end of an interview, each student – in-
terviewer – was bound to arrange and classify the
obtained information into three defined areas: (1)
whether the expert had a profound knowledge on
the global problems related to the renewable energy
sources, (2) whether the expert is well aware about
the current situation in the labour market and in
the area of business and what new opportunities
does he/she expect in terms of his/her own busi-
ness, (3) what are his/her requirements concerning
the qualification of the prospective staff intending
to be employed in his/her enterprise after finishing
the university studies.
Comparison of the information obtained in the
Czech environment with other European states
The global research within the component New
businesses for SMEs in the RES took place simulta-
neously in other EU states; the Great Britain, France,
Spain, Greece and Finland. In these countries, the
research was realized by the means of the standard
correspondence method using questionnaires which
the experts sent back after they had fi lled them in. e
response rate was about 15%. e fi nal set included 72
questionnaires obtained by the correspondence method
and 24 questionnaires acquired in the Czech Republic
by the means of the standardized survey interviews.
Research results in all seven participating states
were compared, evaluated and joint together. The
research that was carried out in the Czech Republic
by the means of the standardized survey interview
offered more detailed and accurate results but when
comparing the data, it was confirmed that there are
not any relevant differences in opinions as for busi-
ness opportunities in the area of the RES between
Czech and European entrepreneurs engaged in the
research.
The first research area that identified what knowl-
edge about the global problems related to the develop-
ment of RES the top managers have had demonstrated
that they draw the information from public media,
magazines and publications dealing with a specific
field linked with their enterprise. The extent of their
knowledge may be characterized as a general aware-
ness about global problems with only a thorough
knowledge of the accompanying factors.
The second research area that focused on the man-
agers´ idea of the development of technologies and
market in their own field of business activity proved
that they dispose of a pragmatic, detailed and real-
istic idea concerning their own perspectives. They
can forecast the opportunities and threats related
to their business and they are able to conceal their
strong and weak points – probably as a means of
protection against the competitors. Some research
results are really remarkable and they may serve as
an incentive for a further development of business.
The third research area that detected what quali-
fication should the prospective employees, i.e. the
undergraduate or graduate students, have, revealed
that besides the expected requirement concerning
the technical qualification, a new profile of prospec-
tive employee emerged: the manager of renewable
energy sources who would be qualified for managing
the integrated and shared energy systems and who
Table 1. Basic information on firms participating in the research
Firm focus area –
main specialization
Number of firms
in the group
Second subsidiary
activity Number of employees
Solar 732–80
Biomass and biogas 6 40–60
Biogas and municipal solid waste 4 25–40
Mini-Hydro 4 solar 20–25
Geothermal heat pumps 3 solar 40–60
Tota l 24
430 AGRIC. ECON. CZECH, 58, 2012 (9): 425–432
would be able to run complex projects, i.e. the proj-
ects “from the stage of development until recycling
of waste materials”.
RESULTS
During the evaluation of the future development in
the area of RES and its impact on the development of
small and medium-sized business in regions and on
the increase in job opportunities for region inhab-
itants, managers of small fi rms relied on their own
practical and pragmatic experience: monitoring the
development of technology in their proper field of
activity, monitoring the degree of interest on the part
of customers, negotiating with customers, negotiating
with suppliers and purchasers of technologies, the
experience with the maintenance and service of the
realized delivery of technological devices, monitoring
the off er of competitors operating in the surroundings
of the entrepreneur’s seat. e evaluation of the future
development in the area of RES and the possibilities
for the development of small enterprises as well as
the increase in job opportunities in regions is on the
general level identical in all seven European countries
involved in the project.
Rapid moral depreciation of the installed
technologies
The fast development of new technologies – soft
(SW, devices) and robust (machinery, material, tech-
nologies) – will have a considerable influence on
the more rapid moral depreciation of the currently
installed technologies. The managers’ estimates con-
cerning this issue imply that some devices are stricken
with moral depreciation already after three years. The
necessity to renovate the currently installed device
will occur most probably earlier than the project
expected. In case the given device is not renovated
in time, its competitiveness regarding the growing
prices for energy will be significantly reduced.
Entrepreneurs may respond to this situation by
enlarging the scope of the maintenance services:
(a)offer a long term guaranteed service of mainte-
nance and renovation submitted to the customer
as a part of the installation set,
(b)provide the operators of energy devices with a
permanent renovation by the means of the latest
technologies as a part of their marketing strategy.
This would require the transfer of new technolo-
gies in the environment of small business and the
continual education of the enterprise’s key employees.
Joint sharing of the autonomous energy sources
by groups of subjects
The experts consistently distinguish two types of
the installation devices designed for energy produc-
tion from the renewable sources of energy:
(a)installations intended for commercial purposes,
i.e. the sale of energy,
(b)installations intended for the subject’s own need.
It is especially the latter which the experts per-
ceive as a space for further possibilities in terms of
the development of business activities and job op-
portunities: it concerns projects of the joint share
of different kinds of renewable energy sources by a
group of various subjects. The current trend when
a subject purchases one RES which he/she consid-
ers as the most convenient to his/her purposes will
be no more sufficient in the future according to the
experts. The experts suggest that the customers, in
order to ensure their independence on the external
natural conditions and after having taken into ac-
count the continuous growth in prices for energies,
will be highly interested in the installation of at
least two autonomous energy sources. As one of the
interviewed experts states: “It does not refer to the
situation when there are two neighbours living side
by side, one of them having a roof oriented towards
the east and the other one towards the west so they
just agree to purchase joint solar panels and to use
the energy from the sun the whole day.” Projects of
the joint sharing of energy sources for own usage
emerge among the groups of various subjects so
that sharing of the joint energy sources would bring
all participants the synergic effect. As an example
of such groups, it is possible to mention: groups of
households; groups of households and producers;
groups of villages; groups of villages and producers
etc. It is probable that there will be even the groups
across the regions or transnational groups. Within
a group which will share the joint renewable energy
sources, unique local conditions and opportunities
will be exploited. Although such projects will require
higher costs, the eventual expenses of the particular
subjects in a group are supposed to be comparable
with the individual investment in the energy source
while being better appraised regarding the gained
energy.
This anticipated trend in the RES exploitation brings
about further possibilities as for the development of
business activities and services:
(a)Joint sharing of various energy sources by groups
of legal and natural persons will require special
legal acts and maybe also new legislative measures.
AGRIC. ECON. CZECH, 58, 2012 (9): 425–432 431
It will be necessary to ensure the education for a
new staff charged with these tasks.
(b)In terms of project preparation, it will be essential
to carry out a more complex and comprehensive
preliminary research related to the local natural
conditions. It will be more demanding to comply
with the requirements concerning the environment.
(c)Projects will become more complex and their
preparation, permission and building negotia-
tions as well as realization may provide new job
opportunities for planning engineers or manag-
ers and the offer of jobs for auditors, building
supervisors and continuous maintenance service
workers will also expand.
(d)For small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, the
trend of the joint sharing of RES represents both
opportunity and threat. The enterprises which
will manage to train their staff and to enlarge
the scope of their focus towards other sources
of energy will have a real chance to progress and
to assume position in this relative market niche.
The enterprises which will not succeed may, on
the contrary, threaten their position within the
business market.
Offer of complex services
The experts emphasize that the installation of a
device producing energy from the renewable energy
source represents only one out of many possibilities
of ensuring the subjects’ greater self-sufficiency in
their energy consumption. No matter how efficient
such a device may be, it will not ensure a sufficient
performance unless other conditions such as the
heat cladding of objects, the renovation of supply
networks, a proper installation and an adjustment
of forced ventilation, a continual device revision
etc. are met. These services may become part of a
complex service offer presented by a small firm and
will ensure such a firm new customers.
DISCUSSION
Directors and managers of small firms operating in
regions concentrate their attention on their immedi-
ate vicinity. They seem to be highly interested in the
latest information concerning global problems in the
area of energy sources. They gather the information
from media but they do not feel any need to study this
issue more profoundly. The object of their primary
interest becomes the region in which they operate
and the target group is represented by the region
inhabitants to whom they offer job opportunities.
They distinguish between the exploitation of re-
newable energy sources intended for sale and the
exploitation meant to improve the energy balance
of inhabitants. The idea of joint sharing of different
kinds of alternative energy sources by the groups of
users intended for their own need may be interpreted
as a reaction to the disappointment that commercial
projects brought about to the region inhabitants:
instead of the expected price reduction, there is a
rise in the price for energy, instead of adopting the
environmentally friendly attitude, a severe harm is
done to the environment. Joint sharing of energy
sources by the groups of inhabitants and the local
producers and institutions may, according to experts,
erase these problems: it is in their own interest not
to devastate the environment in their close vicinity.
Profit is distributed in the form of a cheaper, jointly
produced and shared energy.
Experts suggest that the further development of
small enterprises and increase in job opportunities
for the region inhabitants in the area of RES depends
on the ability to enlarge the scope of the complex
service offer. Ideally, there is an enterprise that is able
to provide those who would be interested with the
installation of at least two different kinds of alternative
sources as a “turn-key solution”, i.e. the provision of
the field research and the research surveying feasible
possibilities, the project elaboration, the provision of
building permits, installation, the continual innova-
tion and the waste material recycling.
For some enterprises, this would represent an op-
portunity whereas the existence of other enterprises
may be threatened.
A crucial role will be represented by education.
Universities may ensure the transfer of the latest
technologies into the environment of small firms and
they may also prepare new study programmes which
would graduate students able to work in complex
services. In the area of renewable energy sources, it
concerns the graduates who received the education
across various faculties: the graduate should be fa-
miliar with the basic technological proceedings, s/he
should work with projects and have a basic education
in law, economics and management and should be
able to understand the requirements related to the
environment.
Development in the area of renewable energy sources
cannot do without an external encouragement. As far
as the state authorities are concerned, they may find
there an opportunity to stimulate this development
by the means of delivering target grants or support
for pilot projects which would in particular prove and
work out the possibilities of the joint RES sharing by
various groups of inhabitants.
432 AGRIC. ECON. CZECH, 58, 2012 (9): 425–432
CONCLUSION
The development of small and medium-sized enter-
prises in a region simultaneously ensures the increase
in job opportunities for the country inhabitants.
Within the European Union “RES COMPASS” project,
the research of 96 small enterprises operating in the
area of RES in seven European states was carried out.
Directors and managers of these enterprises – experts
– presented their visions in terms of the prospective
possibilities in the development of small business in
regions. Realistic possibilities of the development
of small enterprises appear to exist in the provision
of more complex services which would react to (1)
the needs of a more rapid renovation of morally
depreciated devices, (2) the interest of inhabitants
and producers in installations of at least two differ-
ent autonomous alternative energy sources, (3) the
creation of informal groups of users who will share
various energy sources for non-commercial purposes
and with the aim of improving their energy balance,
(4) the need to support the installation of energy
devices with other measures – heat cladding, as the
heat cladding of objects, the renovation of supply
networks, energy audits and projects.
The importance of biomass producers in the in-
formal mutual share of energy sources is evident.
Business development requires the transfer of the
latest know-how and technologies directly in the envi-
ronment of small and medium-sized enterprises, which
may be ensured by the universities. e universities are
also challenged with launching new inter-fi eld educa-
tion programmes which would profi le graduates with
a larger scope of knowledge and skills: technic skills
and knowledge of technologies, project management,
economics, management, and the environment.
A targeted support for these processes should be
provided by the grant agencies and funds.
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Arrived on 16th June 2011
Contact address:
Jaroslav Havlíček, Martin Pelikán, Tomáš Šubrt, University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129,
165 21 Prague, Czech Republic
e-mail: havlicekj@pef.czu.cz
