Publications

19 Feb 2020
News

Capitol Ideas to Combat Climate Change

“You are seeing meaningful renewable programs in most states, and that’s both good news and bad news.” Using the example of her own company, a private equity firm investing in the energy sector, she explained the challenges of working... View Details

Keywords: April White; photos by Jack Conroy

01 Jun 2003
News

Batten Gift to Support Residential Campus

Frank Batten, a member of the MBA Class of 1952, has made an extraordinary $32 million gift to HBS. The gift — one of the largest in the School’s history — will support the renewal and enhancement of the Soldiers Field campus. “Frank... View Details

Keywords: Jeffrey L. Cruikshank

10 Aug 2017
News

Into the Light

real interest was in creating “electrical grids that leveraged 100 percent renewable energy.” In the United States, with its fixed infrastructure, such a goal seemed impossible. But in communities without electricity, Poindexter saw the... View Details

Keywords: April White; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Utilities

01 Oct 1996
News

New Releases

an eight-step process to help firms achieve the lasting organizational transformations essential for success in the coming decades. The Balanced Scorecard by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton (Harvard Business School Press) After years of cost-cutting and... View Details

01 Oct 2002
News

John Batcha: Sowing the Seeds to Fight Hunger

order to cover SPI's operating expenses. He notes that the program gives people the means to create an independent, renewable food supply, which builds esteem and has the added benefit of being more cost-effective than continuously... View Details

November 2020 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Holaluz: Taking on the Spanish Energy Market

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini, Oded Koenigsberg, Elena Corsi and Emer Moloney

In 2020, the three cofounders of Holaluz, a newcomer to Spain’s electricity retail market, are preparing to launch a new offering: installing and managing solar panels on households' roofs at no extra cost for the consumer, who would still benefit from the energy... View Details

Keywords: Electricity; Solar Power; Subscription Business; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Service Delivery; Business Model; Product Launch; Marketing; Energy Industry; Spain

2025
Working Paper

Residential Battery Storage - Reshaping The Way We Do Electricity

By: Christian Kaps and Serguei Netessine

In this paper, we aim to understand when private households invest in behind-the-meter battery storage next to rooftop solar and how those batteries impact households, the electricity market, and emissions. We answer three main research questions: 1) When do customers... View Details

Keywords: Solar Power; Energy Storage; Technology And Innovation Management; Energy; Energy Policy; Renewable Energy; Technological Innovation; Innovation and Management; Energy Industry

SSRN

March 2011
Teaching Note

KiOR: Catalyzing Clean Energy (TN)

By: Ramana Nanda

Teaching Note for 809092. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Renewable Energy; Information Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Leadership Style; Geographic Location; Energy Industry

October 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

1366 Technologies

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Ramana Nanda and David Kiron

Just months after declaring their intent to become a solar cell equipment supplier, van Mierlo and Sachs were again revisiting the issue of what the company should be. Becoming a successful solar cell manufacturer would potentially be much more lucrative than becoming... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Commercialization; Corporate Strategy; Green Technology Industry

September 2020 (Revised June 2021)
Case

GreenFire Energy, 2020: Geothermal Innovation

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In June 2020, GreenFire Energy Inc. (GreenFire) presented its report to the California Energy Commission indicating that its proof of concept project to demonstrate its new geothermal electricity generation technology, ECO2G™, had been a success. While conventional... View Details

Keywords: Geothermal Electricity; Renewable Energy; Energy Generation; Technological Innovation; Commercialization; Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions

September 2006 (Revised November 2008)
Case

Supergrid

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Supergrid is a mammoth wind-power development scheme for Europe, recently proposed by Airtricity. This firm, founded in 1997, is a fast-growing power-development company focused on wind. Already having built about 600 megawatts of wind turbines in Scotland and Ireland,... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Performance Capacity; Business and Government Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; Europe; United States