Sebastian Groh, PhD
Professor
Passionate to drive the 5D's fuelling our energy future: Decentralization, Decarbonization, Disruption, Democratization & Digitization! In line with these believes, together with his colleagues at SOLshare, Sebastian installed the world's first cyber-physical peer-to-peer solar sharing grid in a remote area of Bangladesh as the founder and managing director of SOLshare, a start-up based out of Bangladesh that has set out to develop the future of energy.
Dr. Groh is a 2013 Stanford Ignite Fellow from Stanford Graduate School of Business and holds a PhD from Aalborg University and the Postgraduate School Microenergy Systems at the TU Berlin where he wrote his doctoral thesis on the role of energy in development processes, energy poverty & technical innovations, with a special focus on Bangladesh.
Address
Level: 5, Room: 5A34
Kha-224 Merul Badda
Dhaka 1212. Bangladesh
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Education
+–TU Berlin/ Aalborg University, Germany/ Denmark
PhD in Economics, Postgraduate School Microenergy Systems
Thesis: The Role of Access to Electricity in Development Processes - Approaching energy poverty through innovation
Supervision:
Prof. Dr. Bernd Möller (Aalborg University, Denmark)
Prof. Dr. Daniel M Kammen (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
Dr. Shonali Pachauri (IIASA, Austria)
Stanford Graduate School of Business, USA
Stanford Ignite: Powering Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Stanford Ignite Fellow of 2013
Harvard Business School, USA
Strategic Leadership for Microfinance: HBS-Accion Program
University of Göttingen, Germany
Master of International Economics; Major: Development Economics
Thesis: Bridging the gap between micro and macro analysis – Residential and micro-business energy demand modelling for the case of Peru
Exchange student at “Universidad Dr. José Matías Delgado”, El Salvador
Exchange student at “University of Pune”, Department of Management Sciences (PUMBA), India
University of Mannheim, Germany
B.Sc. in Economics
Thesis: Efficient Market Hypothesis in Africa’s Sub-Saharan Stock Market
Exchange student at the “Universidad Carlos III de Madrid”, Spain -
Publications
+–Books
Groh, S., Straeten, J. van der, Lasch, B. E., Gershenson, D., Filho, W. L., & Kammen, D. (Eds.). (2015). Decentralized solutions for developing economies: Addressing energy poverty through innovation. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15964-5
Book Chapters
Muceka, R., Kukeera, T., Alokore, Y., Noara, K., & Groh, S. (2018). Integrating a solar PV System with a household based backup generator for hybrid swarm electrification: A case study of Nigeria. In M. Mpholo, D. Steuerwald, & T. Kukeera (Eds.), Africa-EU Renewable Energy Research and Innovation Symposium 2018 (RERIS 2018) (pp. 43–58). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93438-9_4
Beermann, H., Dornberger, U., Sebitosi, B., Groh, S., & van der Straeten, J. (2015). Value chain thinking and energy projects—a problem-centered value chain approach to energy based upgrading of rice farmers in the Philippines. In S. Groh, J. van der Straeten, B. Edlefsen Lasch, D. Gershenson, W. Leal Filho, & D. M. Kammen (Eds.), Decentralized solutions for developing economies (pp. 109–122). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15964-5_10
Groh, S., Philipp, D., Lasch, B. E., & Kirchhoff, H. (2015). Swarm electrification: Investigating a paradigm shift through the building of microgrids bottom-up. In S. Groh, J. van der Straeten, B. Edlefsen Lasch, D. Gershenson, W. Leal Filho, & D. M. Kammen (Eds.), Decentralized solutions for developing economies (pp. 3–22). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15964-5_1
Van der Straeten, J., Friederici, K., & Groh, S. (2014). Taking a micro-Perspective on the global challenge of climate change: The “Microenergy Systems” research focus at the Technische Universität Berlin. In W. Leal Filho, F. Alves, S. Caeiro, & U. M. Azeiteiro (Eds.), International perspectives on climate change: Latin America and beyond (pp. 135–149). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04489-7_10
Journals
Pelz, S., Pachauri, S., & Groh, S. (2018). A critical review of modern approaches for multidimensional energy poverty measurement. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, 7(6). https://doi.org/10.1002/wene.304
Magnasco, A., Kirchhoff, H., Chowdhury, S., & Groh, S. (2016). Data services for real time optimization of DC nanogrids with organic growth. Energy Procedia, 103, 369–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2016.11.301
Aziz, S., Chowdhury, S. A., & Groh, S. (2016). The success of solar diesel minigrids in Bangladesh: A case study of Sandwip Island. Energy Procedia, 103, 316–321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2016.11.292
Groh, S., Pachauri, S., & Rao, N. D. (2016). What are we measuring? An empirical analysis of household electricity access metrics in rural Bangladesh. Energy for Sustainable Development, 30, 21–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2015.10.007
Koepke, M., & Groh, S. (2016). Against the odds: The potential of swarm electrification for small island development states. Energy Procedia, 103, 363–368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2016.11.300
Groh, S., & Taylor, H. (2015). The role of microfinance in energy access: Changing roles, changing paradigms, and future potential. Enterprise Development and Microfinance, 26, 194–202. https://doi.org/10.3362/1755-1986.2015.026
Chowdhury, S. A., Aziz, S., Groh, S., Kirchhoff, H., & Leal Filho, W. (2015). Off-grid rural area electrification through solar-diesel hybrid minigrids in Bangladesh: Resource-efficient design principles in practice. Journal of Cleaner Production, 95, 194–202. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.062
Groh, S. (2014). The role of energy in development processes—The energy poverty penalty: Case study of Arequipa (Peru). Energy for Sustainable Development, 18, 83–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2013.12.002
Magazine/Newspapers Articles
Groh, S. (2017). The power of thinking small and solar. The Daily Star. Retrieved from http://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/the-power-thinking-small-and-solar-140...
Groh, S. (2017). Taking on the new energy world. Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.dhakatribune.com/tribune-supplements/tribune-climate/2017/08/...
Groh, S. (2016). A response to - Bringing electricity to more Bangladeshis. The Daily Star. Retrieved from http://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/politics/response-bringing-electricity...
Groh, S. (2016). Creating solar villages in Bangladesh. Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.dhakatribune.com/climate-change/2016/08/13/creating-solar-vil...
Groh, S., Allet, M., Bénard, M.-A., Forcella, D., Huybrechs, F., Jan, G. S., Taylor, H. (2015). The Green Index, an innovative tool to assess the environmental performance of MFIs. European Microfinance Platform.
Others
Groh, S. (2018). Rural Bangladesh has already embraced renewable energy: Here’s what the rest of the world can learn. Retrieved from World Economic Forum website: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/rural
Straeten, J. van der, Groh, S., Pelz, S., Batteiger, A., Kirchhoff, H., Realpe-Carrillo, N., & Schäfer, M. (2017). From dualism to convergence – A research agenda for energy access (No. discussion paper Nr. 38/2017). Berlin.
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Courses Taught
+–MGT 601: Strategic Management
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Awards, Honors
+–• 2019 UBS Global Visionary
https://www.ubs.com/global/en/wealth-management/globalvisionaries/home.html
• 2019 Global Cleantech 100
https://www.cleantech.com/
• Winner of Free Electrons ’18 – the Global Energy Utility Accelerator
http://www.freetheelectron.com/
• World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer ‘18
http://widgets.weforum.org/techpioneers-2018/
• Ashoka Fellow ‘18
https://www.ashoka.org/en/fellow/sebastian-groh
• IKU Innovation Award 2018 by the German Industry Association 9BDI) & the German Ministry of Environment (BMU) on behalf of SOLshare and jointly with MicroEnergy Itl.
• UNDESA Powering the Future We Want USD 1M Grant 2017 on behalf of SOLshare and jointly with Grameen Shakti. https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/sustainable/2017-energy-gran....
• First winner of Elsevier’s and the International Solar Energy Society’s Renewable Transformation Challenge 2017. https://www.elsevier.com/physical-sciences/energy/renewable-transformati....
• UN Climate Change Award: 2016 UNFCCC Momentum for Change Award – Lighthouse Activities at COP 22 in Marrakech on behalf of SOLshare.
• Intersolar Award 2016 – Outstanding Solar Project on behalf of SOLshare.
• Best Climate Practice Contest on Energy Poverty (2014): ICCG award for the 3rd best
• PhD full scholarship by Hans-Böckler Foundation (2012 - 2015)
• Luxembourg Green Business Award for ADA´s and MicroEnergy Int.´s Energy Inclusion Initiative (2012)
• Scholarship Award: University Meets Microfinance by the European Union (2011)
• Scholarship Award: German Academic Exchange Service - DAAD (2010)
• Scholarship Award: Erasmus (2009) -
Research Areas/Interests
+–Rural Electrification/ Entrepreneurship / Sustainability / Business Model Design / Design Thinking / Green Finance / Smart Grids / Energy Transition / Solar / Sustainable Development Goals / Strategy