Amanda Bankel’s doctoral thesis explores why low carbon technologies like solar panels do not spread as quickly as expected, even when they are affordable and technologically mature. The study shows that the problem is often not the technology itself, but rather how markets develop in practice. By studying solar firms in Sweden, the research highlights that business models play a decisive role in how the market develops.
What challenges do you focus on in your research?
“I focus on the challenges firms face when bringing solar technology to customers after it has become cost‑competitive. These include weak integration with complementary technologies and infrastructure, limited technical knowledge among customers and installers, difficulties accessing capital, imbalanced interactions between market actors, and unclear or unstable policy frameworks.”
How do you address the problem?
“By studying firms that sell, install, and provide services in the Swedish solar market, I show how they actively use their business models to navigate these challenges in practice. Firms do this by combining products and services, adjusting their offerings and target groups, collaborating with other actors, and engaging with policy and regulation.”
What are the main findings?
“The main finding is that becoming cost‑competitive is not enough for low‑carbon technologies to spread widely. Firms continue to face substantial market challenges, and their business models are crucial tools for addressing these challenges. This means that these firms play a much more decisive role in shaping market development than is often assumed.”
What do you hope your research will lead to?
“I hope the research will contribute to a better understanding of how markets for low‑carbon technologies actually develop in practice. By highlighting the role of firms and their business models, the research can help inform policy and industry efforts aimed at accelerating the energy transition, for example by showing how policy instruments and business models can work together more effectively.”
Read the thesis: Business Models as Market Formation Devices
Public defence: 27 March 2026 at 09:15
- Part-time fixed-term teacher, Innovation and R&D Management, Technology Management and Economics
- Associate Professor, Innovation and R&D Management, Technology Management and Economics