A Frugal Innovation Approach to Dynamic Electricity Pricing in Rural India
Semee Yoon (Assistant Professor from Yonsei University), Sini Numminen (Department of Applied Physic from Aalto University), Peter Lund (Professor from Aalto University) and Johannes Urpelainen ( Professor from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies)
This experiment tests the applicability of a “frugal innovation” approach to dynamic pricing. The experiment will be conducted as a collaboration between Aalto University, Columbia University and Boond which is a social enterprise. The goal is to conduct a rigorous randomized controlled trial on the feasibility of dynamic pricing characterized by poverty and low demand for electricity. Researchers have found a way to reduce the cost of off-grid systems and facilitate the expansion of off-grid electricity generation for the rural population.
An innovative pricing mechanism will be tested in field conditions in the Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh in India in total, seven pico-grids that will be installed in habitations. A pilot pico-grid is meant exclusively for testing and six additional pico-grids exclusively for data collection. MORSEL collected weekly data from the households and technical data from the energy meters as well.
Location: Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh
