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CenSES annual report 2015
Education
Master students
In 2015 approximately 44 master students wrote their thesis
on environmentally friendly energy systems and markets in
CenSES. Key researchers, post docs and phd students from
the center supervised the master students.
PhD students
There were 23 PhD students funded by CenSES in 2015.
Six of these students finished their thesis during the year,
Xiaomei Cheng (NHH), Mads Dahl Gjefsen (UiO), Robert
Jomisko (NTNU), Bente Johnsen Rygg (HiSF, NTNU), Eirik
Swensen (NTNU), Hans JakobWalnum (Vestlandsforsking).
Further to this, an additional 24 PhD students were
employed in related projects with funding from other
sources. These students were invited to participate in events
organized by CenSES, and some of them presented their
work at the annual conference in December. Six of these
students finished their thesis during the year: Sahar Babri
(NHH), Victoria Gribkovskaia (NHH), Marius Korsnes (NTNU,
China Project), Marianne Steinmo (HBS), Tunc Durmaz (NHH)
and Steinar Veka (NFR).
Master thesis: “Entering a Developing
Country with a Solar Cooker: Strategies for
Start-ups, NTNU”
This master thesis by Even Sønnik Haug Larsen and Guro
Grytli Seim investigates how start-ups can acquire change
agents to overcome barriers to adoption when entering a
developing country market with a solar cooker. Today, 2.7
billion people rely on biomass as their primary cooking fuel,
leading to severe health and environmental impacts in many
developing countries. Solar cooking represents a
technologically viable alternative to the use of biomass,
but scaling up the market has failed despite many years
of efforts, mostly by non-profits, donor agencies and
governments. There are several barriers to the adoption of
solar cookers, where factors such as disruptiveness of the
technology, high complexity and low purchasing
power impede the adoption rate. This thesis provides a
recommendation and a tool kit to start-ups in the solar
cooking industry, to help them choose the most appropriate
entry strategy, thus facilitating the diffusion of such
environmentally friendly technologies.
Master thesis: “Revenue Models and
Pricing Strategies in Solar-Based
Decentralized Micro-Grid Rural
Electrification Companies in India, NTNU”
This master thesis by Stian Angelsen and Dag Håkon Andre
Åsmundhavn Haneberg focuses on revenue models and
pricing strategies in the context of solar-based
decentralized micro-grid companies operating in rural India
and investigates how a revenue model can be developed
in this context. There is a need to develop financially
sustainable solutions that can provide 450 million people
in rural areas of India with electricity. In order to attract
more investors, and speed up the electrification process,
decentralized micro-grid operators in rural India strive for
higher operational profits to attract more investors. This
thesis contributes by developing a tool for revenue model
development that consists of two parts; the revenue model
structure, and a set of revenue model ideas to address
contextual challenges. By incorporating learning into the
model, the thesis provides a handy tool that can be adapted
to different contexts for entrepreneurs in the industry.