“Building” Regulatory Ecosystems to Accelerate Energy Transitions: The Case of an Emerging Off-Grid Solar Industry

The acceleration of energy transitions has social and ecological implications that necessitate a better understanding of the regulation of energy systems. Looking at transnational linkages this study argues that technology has become the embodiment of globalized problem-solving in off-grid energy access. This is the result of the re-emergence of approaches to building regulatory ecosystems to scale renewable energy industries as an aspect of transnational governance. Today, this process is contested by traditional national and sub-national interest shaping local energy transitions in contrast to such transnational regulatory ecosystems. This study looks at how off-grid solar technology or pico photovoltaic systems have been taken from experimentation in the 80ies to globalized mass markets at the beginning of the 21st century. Looking at the case of India and East Africa, I argue that in the new millennium the establishment of transnational standardization frameworks, preferential taxation and import tariffs, as well as Intellectual Property Rights have underpinned a global production network in the off-grid solar sector. This regulatory framework is today contested along economic, social and ecological interests that evolve between local necessities of energy access and the global urgency of climate change. Therefore, the question this study looks at is how the emergence of a regulatory ecosystem along transnational linkages has historically developed and in what respects it is contested today. The goal of the study is to chart factors for techno-political interest formation in the acceleration of energy transitions. The case study is based on a qualitative research design and 33 expert interviews.