1.1 Introduction

At present, many sustainable energy technologies have reached a level of maturity that allows for product integration; however, currently realized product applications are beyond the possibilities that are offered by these technologies. To better embed energy technologies in industrial product design, we believe that a better insight regarding energy technologies in relation to appropriately matched design processes will be necessary to lead to numerous new, sustainable, and energy-efficient products (and services) in the next decade. Therefore, our book provides information, theories, and examples that enable the reader to better use and apply sustainable energy technologies, matched with energy efficiency, in products in several different markets.

Product innovation in sustainable energy technologies integrates the subject areas that are relevant for the design of sustainable and energy-efficient products based on sustainable energy technologies. For this reason, it is an interdisciplinary field in its nature – it is all about energy, product design, and innovation. Therefore, in The Power of Design the following topics will be addressed:

• Design processes and innovation methods that can be applied towards the design of sustainable products for energy technologies, namely, platform-driven product development, the Delft innovation model, TRIZ (the theory of inventive problem solving), technology road mapping, constructive technology assessment, the innovation journey, design and styling, risk-diagnosing methodology, and the multilevel design model.
• The functional principles of various sustainable energy technologies that are significant for product integration, namely, batteries, photovoltaic solar energy, fuel cells, small wind turbines, human power, energy-saving lighting, thermal energy technologies in buildings, and piezoelectric energy conversions.
• User behavior and energy use, from a theoretical point of view and from experiences in the practice of energy surroundings.

This chapter defines the context and scope of The Power of Design. As such, we will first illustrate the relevance of sustainable energy and energy efficiency. Next we will elaborate on the challenges of bringing energy-related aspects into product design. Subsequently the field of industrial design engineering will be described, as well as several approaches to design for sustainability in Western and low-income markets in emerging and developing economies.