Tanja Winther

• Matinga, Margaret N.; Gill, Bigsna & Winther, Tanja (2019). Rice Cookers, Social Media, and Unruly Women: Disentangling Electricity's Gendered Implications in Rural Nepal. Frontiers in Energy Research.  ISSN 2296-598X.  6(140) . doi: 10.3389/fenrg.2018.00140 Show summary

  Rice cookers, social media, and television sets are commonly used in rural Nepal. In this paper we explore how gender norms condition the uptake of these artefacts, and the gendered implications of their uses. We draw on material from a household survey, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews, collected in 2017 in Dhading and Tanahun districts in rural Nepal. The results show that each of the three artefacts initiate distinct, gendered dynamics in terms of uptake, uses and effects. Women’s use of electric rice cookers aligns with their gendered identity as cooks, helping them improve their gendered work and do not trigger resistance from men. In contrast, the use of mobile phones, social media and television, prompt complex gender outcomes, resistances, and negotiations. Young people use social media to initiate self-negotiated marriages, shunning arranged marriages thus increasing their agency. It was reported that these self-negotiated marriages tend to be earlier (ages 12-14) than before, as young girls drop out of school to marry their chosen partners, thus threatening their empowerment. Access to television and internet has increased awareness about family planning methods, but persistent gender hierarchies hinder women from freely deciding on and accessing these methods. Women and youth pursuing new opportunities that challenge gender norms are sometimes labelled as unfaithful and unruly by others in the villages. The paper highlights the need to understand subversive responses to social and cultural changes mediated by electricity so that policy and practice can support the desired social transformations.

• Standal, Karina; Winther, Tanja & Danielsen, Katrine (2018). Energy Politics and Gender, In Kathleen Hancock & Juliann Allison (ed.),  The Oxford Handbook of Energy Politics.  Oxford University Press.  ISBN 9780190861360.  Chapter. Show summary

  Policy makers and scholars often assume gender to be irrelevant in energy politics. However, an increasing body of scholarship and development policies has focused on how gender discrimination has negative effects on women’s access to energy resources and equal contributions to decision-making processes that influence energy issues. This article evaluates four overarching and salient policy and research discourses that frame women’s and men’s positions in benefiting from and participating in decision-making about energy. First, energy has mainly been perceived as gender neutral, ignoring gendered outcomes of energy policies. Second, women have been presented as victims of energy poverty in the global South to instigate donors and action. Third, women’s empowerment in the global South has been presented as instrumental to increasing productivity and economic growth through access to modern sources and uses of energy. These discourses have produced narratives that provide limited imaginaries of women’s agency and relevance to the politics of energy in their lives. The fourth and less familiar discourse has presented women as rights holders of basic services, including access to modern and sustainable energy. This last discourse has provided a tool for examining the deeper unequal structures, as well as holding stakeholders in supply accountable for reproducing gender equality, needed to understand and produce relevant and socially just knowledge.

• Ulsrud, Kirsten; Rohracher, Harald; Winther, Tanja; Muchunku, Charles & Palit, Debajit (2018). Pathways to electricity for all: What makes village-scale solar power successful?. Energy Research & Social Science.  ISSN 2214-6296.  44, s 32- 40 . doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2018.04.027 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  This article presents new empirical research on what it takes to provide enduring access to affordable, reliable and useful electricity services for all. We analyze and synthesize the long-term experiences with three different systems for village-scale solar power supply in India, Senegal and Kenya. Since this scale of electricity provision forms part of village infrastructure, it requires particular types of knowledge, policies and support mechanisms. This research therefore investigates how village-scale solar systems can be designed, implemented, sustained and replicated in ways that make them accessible and useful for the community members. Drawing on a sociotechnical and practice-oriented approach, we show that the electricity system’s degree of adaptedness to its social context affects many important qualities of the system such as the relevance of the available electricity services for the people, the system’s operational and economic sustainability and the potential for replication. Achieving such adaptation notably requires a flexible approach on the part of implementers, funders and local actors before, during and after implementation. We also show the need for institutionalization of decentralized electricity provision, discuss the current ambiguities in policies, regulations and funding mechanisms for villagescale solar power, and provide recommendations to policy makers and donors.

• Westskog, Hege; Winther, Tanja & Aasen, Marianne (2018). The creation of an ecovillage: Handling identities in a Norwegian sustainable valley. Sustainability.  ISSN 2071-1050.  10(6) . doi: 10.3390/su10062074 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  This paper presents a qualitative study of Hurdal Ecovillage in Norway. It explores how the actors involved have interacted over time and contributed to shaping the ecovillage. The study demonstrates that the ecovillage as a concept is continuously refined both internally on an individual level and in the village, and in mainstream society. At stake is the question of ecovillage identity and what this should entail. The interviewed ecovillagers report two main motives for deciding to move to the village. One is to become part of the ecovillage community, while the other is grounded in the ecovillage as a means to achieve sustainability rather than as a goal in itself. Hurdal Ecovillage has undergone two distinct development phases. First, the members jointly owned the land, built their own houses, and attempted to be self-sufficient. The ecovillage was largely isolated from the local community. In the second phase, professional actors took over responsibility for developing the village, offering ready-made houses to be owned by individual families. This shift resulted in the ecovillage appearing more like conventional settlements. Today’s ecovillagers express a wish to constitute an attractive, sustainable alternative to conventional living, but to do so they have to maintain a distance between themselves and the wider community.

• Winther, Tanja & Bell, Sandra (2018). Domesticating In Home Displays in selected British and Norwegian households. Science & Technology Studies.  ISSN 2243-4690.  31(2), s 19- 38 . doi: 10.23987/sts.56791 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  The paper uses qualitative data from Norway and the United Kingdom to understand the New technology of In Home Display monitors as a material object loaded with meaning and norms that may affect social practices and relations. The displays are designed to encourage householders to reduce electricity consumption. In contrast to technologies associated with ‘smart meters’, the monitors under study cannot be used for controlling or automatising various types of electricity consumption, but these devises nonetheless often form part of ‘smart grid solutions’. A large part of the research in this area has attempted to quantify the impact of displays, and qualitative research focusing on the users has also mainly sought to explain why - or why not – the introduction of displays has resulted in reduced household consumption. This paper follows a more open approach to the introduction and impact of displays by paying attention to the existing routines and social practices into which the display enters and potentially becomes integrated and domesticated. We examine to what extent ideas and norms inscribed in the display continue to have a bearing on the household moral economy and internal dynamics as the objects are negotiated and taken in use in British and Norwegian homes. Drawing on earlier studies that have sought to combine practice and domestication theory for understanding displays, the study’s novelty lies in its focus on the materiality of displays and social implications thereof, and its analysis of the social status of this object in two diff erent contexts.

• Winther, Tanja; Ulsrud, Kirsten & Saini, Anjali (2018). Solar powered electricity access: Implications for women’s empowerment in rural Kenya. Energy Research & Social Science.  ISSN 2214-6296.  44, s 61- 74 . doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2018.04.017 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  This paper examines the gendered implications of various types of electricity access in rural Kenya spanning from the central grid to solar-based systems such as community projects, village scale supply and private solar home systems (SHS). Drawing on material collected in Homa Bay and Kitui counties in 2016, the paper examines the gendered setup, organisation and effects of solarpowered electricity access as compared with the central grid. The paper employs a framework for analysing women’s empowerment through electrification, which draws on Kabeer, Friedman as well as anthropology, socio-technical system theory and practice theory. The results show that people tend to cherish solar-based solutions whereas the grid is perceived to be costly, unreliable and unavailable. As to the gendered organisation of supply, men dominate within the grid, mini-grids and private suppliers, leaving an important potential for women’s empowerment untapped. Two community projects included women’s ‘hands-on’ participation and spurred local discourses about women’s capabilities. Access is also gendered on the user side. Because men tend to own the houses, have a higher income and a moral right to make major decisions, fixed connections and high subscription fees provide women with less agency than what is the case in decentralised systems of supply.

• Winther, Tanja; Westskog, Hege & Sæle, Hanne (2018). Like having an electric car on the roof: Domesticating PV solar panels in Norway. Energy for Sustainable Development.  ISSN 0973-0826.  47, s 84- 93 . doi: 10.1016/j.esd.2018.09.006 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  Worldwide, the number of electricity end-users who produce electricity and feed it to the grid, denoted ‘prosumers’, is increasing. Following innovations in policy, technology (e.g. inverters, smart meters), tariffing and subsidy schemes, solar panels (PV – photovoltaic) connected to the grid have entered the electricity systems in many countries such as the UK and Germany. Norway is an exceptional case in several ways. Because electricity production is mainly based on hydropower, PV does not form a significant part of the government’s vision of the country’s future electricity mix. As a result, governance is limited to prosumer regulations that make it possible to become prosumers in a relatively simple way, but do not actively encourage growth in this market, which is mainly demand driven and only slowly increasing. Norway also has a rapid uptake of electric vehicles at present, potentially influencing the way electricity is managed by households. In this context of pioneering prosumer activities in Norway, this study draws on material from 29 in-depth interviews with prosumers located across the country. The objective is to examine people’s rationales for investing in solar power and how they use this technology to signal identity. We draw on consumption and domestication theory as well as practice-oriented approaches to energy use. The results show that at present there are three groups of prosumers in Norway who have followed distinct domestication paths. We denote the groups as individual prosumers (who have taken the initiative to install solar PV), ‘smart house' dwellers and ecovillagers, respectively. All three share an emphasis on self-consumption in terms of maximising electricity use in periods with sunshine. They also make use of solar technology to signal identity (conversion). However, the groups’ styles of prosuming differ. In terms of incorporating the technology in daily life, the individual prosumers closely follow their own production and engage more actively with the monitoring equipment than the two other groups. As to their underlying values and motivations for prosuming, the individual prosumers, who are largely men, emphasise their interest in testing the new technology. The smart house dwellers associate their type of housing with a high level of comfort and consider the PV to signal a modern way of living. The ecovillagers are primarily concerned with environmentally friendly living. The materiality and physical position of the solar panels on the roofs partly help to create social significance, but only because the dwellers and their observers associate the object with particular values. Each of our three groups draws a particular meaning from PV that serves to strengthen their desired identity. The results indicate that PV may have the potential to spread to a variety of energy customer groups in Norway. However, the issue of diffusion is uncertain, partly because the studied groups are pioneers and do not necessarily represent a general segment of the population. Also, the studied prosumers tend to downplay economic profitability as a rationale for obtaining PV, and Norwegian authorities do not actively promote PV through support schemes.

• Winther, Tanja & Gurigard, Kjell (2017). Energy performance contracting (EPC): a suitable mechanism for achieving energy savings in housing cooperatives? Results from a Norwegian pilot project. Energy Efficiency.  ISSN 1570-646X.  10(3), s 577- 596 . doi: 10.1007/s12053-016-9477-0 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  The barriers to energy savings in institutions and private homes are well known and include people’s lack of interest, awareness, knowledge and human and financial capacity. Experiences made in several countries show that EPC—energy performance contracting—may be used for overcoming many of these barriers. A typical EPC project is delivered by an energy service company (ESCO) and the contract is accompanied with a guarantee for energy savings. EPC is increasingly taken in use in the professional market (firms and the public sector), but is less common in the residential sector market. It has been suggested that there are several barriers for using EPC in the domestic sector such as the uncertainty involved in estimating forthcoming reductions in private consumption. In this paper, we present the results from a pilot project on the use of EPC in a housing cooperative in Oslo. The project was initiated and observed by the researchers. The research followed a transdisciplinary methodology in that it was conducted by both researcher and practitioner (co-authors) in close collaboration with members of the housing cooperative and the ESCOs, who also contributed to the interpretation of results. We document the process in terms of why the Board decided to join the EPC pilot, the call for offers from ESCOs who guaranteed that purchased annual energy would be reduced by one third, the responses to and negotiations of the offer from the ESCO who became contracted in the initial phase and up to the moment when the General Assembly finally decided to not invest in the proposed energy saving measures. We find that the residents not only had limited interest in energy savings but also lacked confidence in the EPC process. This contributed to the outcome. We discuss the findings in relation to the barriers to using EPC among housing cooperatives. We highlight the need for more knowledge about the client side for understanding how barriers may be overcome. Three specific recommendations for how EPC may successfully be employed among housing cooperatives are suggested as follows: (i) include refurbishment and not only energy savings in the EPC, (ii) identify the residents’ needs in an early phase and (iii) communicate the EPC principle to the residents throughout the process.

• Winther, Tanja; Matinga, Margaret N.; Ulsrud, Kirsten & Standal, Karina (2017). Women’s empowerment through electricity access: scoping study and proposal for a framework of analysis. Journal of Development Effectiveness.  ISSN 1943-9342.  9(3), s 389- 417 . doi: 10.1080/19439342.2017.1343368 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  This article reviews the empirical literature on women’s empowerment through electricity access and the methodologies that have been used. Statistical studies have looked at areas with access to the grid and measured the impact on welfare indicators and employment. Qualitatively oriented studies have looked at various types of supply and studied how electricity access in a given context has influenced women and men in everyday life, sometimes focusing on the role of the design of the systems of supply and the process of electrification. The overall results show that electricity access benefits the welfare of women as well as men, but that the impact on gender relations remains largely unclear. With the ambition to better understand the gendered nature – and impacts – of various types of electricity access, we develop a framework for analysing women’s empowerment through electricity and subsequently illustrate its applications by drawing on the reviewed empirical literature.

• Halvorsen, Bente; Larsen, Bodil; Wilhite, Harold Langford & Winther, Tanja (2016). Revisiting household energy rebound: Perspectives from a multidisciplinary study. Indoor and Built Environment.  ISSN 1420-326X.  25(7), s 1114- 1123 . doi: 10.1177/1420326X16629725 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  In this paper, an interdisciplinary team of economists and anthropologists study the perplexing case of Norwegian households’ heat pump ownership. The heat pump is a technology that has the potential to reduce electricity consumption by up to 25% compared to conventional electric heating, but, as we demonstrate in this study, when taken into use it results in little or no change in electricity consumption. To explain this large rebound effect, we use a quantitative economic analysis combined with qualitative interviews attuned towards examining the effect of heat pumps on people’s everyday practices. We find that, on average, households with and without a heat pump use approximately the same amount of electricity. The main sources of rebound identified was higher indoor temperature and heated living space, less firewood and fuel oil use and less use of night-set-backs or reduced temperature while away from the home.

• Standal, Karina & Winther, Tanja (2016). Empowerment Through Energy? Impact of Electricity on Care Work Practices and Gender Relations. Forum for Development Studies.  ISSN 0803-9410.  43(1), s 27- 45 . doi: 10.1080/08039410.2015.1134642 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  Electricity provides a range of desirable services such as the electric light and the use of mobile phones and is regarded as a conditional factor for economic growth. Gender equality and women's empowerment are also promoted as a key to development on the international agenda. However, relatively little is known about how the advent of electricity in new contexts affects gender relations. The present analysis of electricity's impact on gender relations engages with the concepts of care work and empowerment. Based on two ethnographic case studies in rural communities in Uttar Pradesh, India, and Bamiyan, Afghanistan, we examine how and to what extent the introduction of electricity affected women's care work practices and empowerment – and potentially transformed gender relations. We also draw on our own empirical material from other parts of India (West Bengal and Jharkhand). We find that electricity affected everyday life in terms of providing important resources and enhancing women's opportunities to perform their expected role as care workers more efficiently and in a qualitatively better way. The women appreciated this positive effect of electricity in their everyday lives. However, we argue that in India, electricity at the same time reinforced structures of gender inequality such as patriarchy and dowry practices, and we trace this tendency to the conceptualisation of women as care workers in combination with conventional, gender ‘neutral’ electricity interventions. In contrast, there are signs that women's status increased in the Afghanistan case, which we link to the unusual inclusion of women engineers in the electricity supply.

• Ulsrud, Kirsten; Winther, Tanja; Palit, Debajit & Rohracher, Harald (2015). Village-level solar power in Africa: Accelerating access to electricity services through a socio-technical design in Kenya. Energy Research & Social Science.  ISSN 2214-6296.  5, s 34- 44 . doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2014.12.009 Show summary

  Village-level solar power supply represents a promising potential for access to electricity services. Increased knowledge is needed for the development of solutions that work for the users and are viable in the long run. This article analyzes a solar power model developed and tested through action research in collaboration between a community in Kenya and a team of social scientists and technical experts. The analysis includes the reasons for its socio-technical design, and the actual functioning of the model. The research shows that an energy center model can cover basic electricity needs in areas with dispersed settlement patterns, where mini-grid based systems as well as conventional grid extension meet significant challenges. Such areas are representative for large geographical areas in Africa. We show that portable lanterns and low prices may enhance access to suitable services. Committed follow-up of the local actors, and a flexible socio-technical design – allowing for improvements after implementation – contribute to economic sustainability and smooth functioning. Close attention to the socio-cultural context and the challenges of users, operators and managers is required. Our research draws on theories of socio-technical change and users’ innovation, and presents a five-step analytical framework for analysis of village-level power provision.

• Westskog, Hege; Winther, Tanja & Sæle, Hanne (2015). The Effects of In-Home Displays — Revisiting the Context. Sustainability.  ISSN 2071-1050.  7(5), s 5431- 5451 . doi: 10.3390/su7055431 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  In this paper, we investigate the extent to which the use of in-home displays affects daily practices and electricity consumption. Through two pilot projects, in-home displays were installed in 33 Norwegian homes, and we provide a qualitative analysis of the effects. The results point to the potential differences in the ways households interact with the in-home displays. The effects differed among various groups according to people’s previous experiences with monitoring and their level of affluence. In the sample, affluent respondents living in detached houses tended to be accustomed to monitoring consumption before the display was introduced. These families used the display for controlling that “nothing was wrong”, but they did not use the information provided by the display to initiate new energy saving measures. In contrast, among less affluent flat owners the notion of “control” was specifically linked to the family’s management of finances, and in this sense the displays empowered them. In addition, the results indicate that the in-home display for this group resulted in electricity savings. The study adds to earlier research on the effects of in-home displays by showing the importance of previous experience with monitoring electricity for the effects of feedback and by highlighting not only energy savings but also social effects of displays.

• Winther, Tanja (2015). Impact evaluation of rural electrification programmes: what parts of the story may be missed?. Journal of Development Effectiveness.  ISSN 1943-9342. . doi: 10.1080/19439342.2015.1008274
• Winther, Tanja (2015). On the good life and rising electricity consumption in rural Zanzibar, In Karen V Lykke Syse & Martin Lee Mueller (ed.),  Sustainable Consumption and the Good Life.  Routledge.  ISBN 978-1138013001.  Chapter 9.  s 146 - 164
• Winther, Tanja & Wilhite, Harold Langford (2015). An analysis of the household energy rebound effect from a practice perspective: spatial and temporal dimensions. Energy Efficiency.  ISSN 1570-646X.  8(3), s 595- 607 . doi: 10.1007/s12053-014-9311-5 Full text in Research Archive.
• Winther, Tanja & Wilhite, Harold Langford (2015). Tentacles of modernity: why electricity needs anthropology. Cultural anthropology.  ISSN 0886-7356.  30(4), s 569- 577 . doi: 10.14506/ca30.4.05 Full text in Research Archive.
• Westskog, Hege & Winther, Tanja (2014). Electricity consumption: should there be a limit? Implications of people’s attitudes for the forming of sustainable energy policies. Consilience - The Journal of Sustainable Development.  ISSN 1948-3074.  11(1), s 97- 114 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  The aim of this paper is to examine people’s attitudes towards electricity and electricity consumption within the Norwegian market context. The empirical material is based on 18 in-depth interviews and eight focus group discussions carried out in two Norwegian towns. We draw on theories which assume that different types of logics motivate and guide behaviour. The results show that people’s views on electricity consumption vary widely. About half of the sample thinks of electricity as a commodity, following the market logic embedded in the Norwegian electricity system. According to “consumerists”, as long as people pay for consumption, they are entitled to use as much electricity as they want. The other half of our sample, referred to as “citizens”, questions the purely market-based system. They raise the question of fairness and think there is a need for a norm for appropriate consumption. Both groups regard Norwegian hydropower as common property belonging to the Norwegian population, and both groups question the existing market-based system for exchange of power with other countries. We use the results to discuss some of the policy implications in terms of how energy savings could be achieved.

• Winther, Tanja (2014). The Introduction of Electricity in the Sundarban Islands: Conserving or Transforming Gender Relations?, In Kenneth Bo Nielsen & Anne Waldrop (ed.),  Women, Gender and Everyday Social Transformation in India.  Anthem Press.  ISBN 9781783082698.  3.  s 47 - 61
• Winther, Tanja (2013). Space, Time, and Sociomaterial Relationships: Moral Aspects of the Arrival of Electricity in Rural Zanzibar, In Sarah Strauss; Stephanie Rupp & Thomas Love (ed.),  Cultures of Energy: Power, Practices, Technologies.  Left Coast Press Inc..  ISBN 978-1-61132-165-4.  Chapter 8.  s 164 - 176
• Winther, Tanja & Bouly de Lesdain, Sophie (2013). Electricity, Uncertainty and the Good Life: A Comparison of French and Norwegian Household Responses to Policy Appeals for Sustainable Energy. Energy and Environment Research.  ISSN 1927-0569.  3(1), s 71- 84 . doi: 10.5539/eer.v3n1p71
• Winther, Tanja & Ericson, Torgeir (2013). Matching policy and people? Household responses to the promotion of renewable electricity. Energy Efficiency.  ISSN 1570-646X.  6(2), s 369- 385 . doi: 10.1007/s12053-012-9170-x Show summary

  In this paper, we study the responses among households to the promotion of renewable electricity. We analyse an experiment conducted by a Norwegian power company that offered Guarantees of Origin of supply to 5,000 of their customers. In the experiment, five different groups of 1,000 customers each received information about a renewable electricity certificate and how to purchase it. The information and the reasons given for why the customers should accept the offer was framed differently to each of the groups. The experiment produced minimal responses, and we use material from focus group discussions and in-depth interviews for interpreting and explaining the results. The analysis shows that customers tend to disregard information coming from their supplier, while there is also a low degree of commensurability between the message presented in the information and the understandings and perceptions held by the customers. For example, whereas the information contained the argument that customers must purchase certificates to obtain renewable electricity, Norwegians, because of their awareness of the country’s hydro-based production system, perceive electricity to be renewable as it is. Additionally, focus group participants found the presented terms and figures to be incomprehensible to the extent that the information can be said to have produced ignorance in them. In turn, this negatively affected people’s trust in the message and also its sender, as relevance and reliability are disclosure’s main challenges in Norway. We use the case of electricity labelling in Norway to demonstrate some of the general challenges associated with using information as a tool for changing people’s consumption patterns in deregulated energy markets.

• Winther, Tanja (2012). Electricity theft as a relational issue: A comparative look at Zanzibar, Tanzania, and the Sunderban Islands, India. Energy for Sustainable Development.  ISSN 0973-0826.  16(1), s 111- 119 . doi: 10.1016/j.esd.2011.11.002
• Winther, Tanja (2012). Negotiating Energy and Gender: Ethnographic Illustrations from Zanzibar and Sweden, In Kenneth Bo Nielsen & Kristian Bjørkdahl (ed.),  Development and Environment: Practices, Theories, Policies.  Akademisk Forlag.  ISBN 9788232100330.  11.  s 191 - 207
• Clancy, Joy; Winther, Tanja; Matinga, Margaret & Oparaocha, Sheila (2011). Gender Equity in Access to and Benefits from Modern Energy and Improved Energy Technologies. Gender Equality and Development, World Development Report 2012.  ISSN 0163-5085. Show summary

  Bakgrunnsartikkel om hvordan ny energiteknologi kan bidra til økt likestilling, til Verdensbankens rapport 2012. Produsert av ETC/ENERGIA i assosiasjon med Nord/Sør-konsulentene.

• Ulsrud, Kirsten; Winther, Tanja; Palit, Debajit; Rohracher, Harald & Sandgren, Jonas (2011). The Solar Transitions research on solar mini-grids in India: Learning from local cases of innovative socio-technical systems. Energy for Sustainable Development.  ISSN 0973-0826.  15(3), s 293- 303 . doi: 10.1016/j.esd.2011.06.004
• Westskog, Hege; Winther, Tanja & Strumse, Einar (2011). Addressing Fields of Rationality – A Policy for Reducing Household Energy Consumption?, In Ibon Galarraga; Mikel González-Eguino & Anil Markandya (ed.),  Handbook of Sustainable Energy.  Edward Elgar Publishing.  ISBN 978-1-84980-115-7.  Kapittel 22.

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• Winther, Tanja; Saini, Anjali; Ulsrud, Kirsten; Govindan, Mini; Gill, Bigsna; Matinga, Margaret N.; Palit, Debajit; Brahmachari, Deborshi; Murali, Rashmi & Gichungi, Henry (2019). Women's empowerment and electricity access: How do grid and off-grid systems enhance or restrict gender equality?.
• Westskog, Hege; Inderberg, Tor Håkon Jackson; Sæle, Hanne & Winther, Tanja (2018). Strøm fra folket? Drivkrefter og barrierer. CICERO Report. 04. Show summary

  Prosjektet har hatt som målsetting å identifisere drivkrefter for og barrierer mot at norske husholdningskunder blir plusskunder. Vi har sett på hvorfor noen husholdninger i Norge velger å bli plusskunder, hvilke erfaringer de har, hvordan de bruker energi hjemme og hvordan de oppfatter plusskundeordningen og løsninger som tilbys av sentrale aktører. I tillegg har vi vurdert hvordan et økende antall plusskunder oppfattes og håndteres av sentrale aktører. Funnene fra den norske studien er analysert i lys av utviklingen i Storbritannia og Tyskland for å gi perspektiver på hvordan nasjonal politikk, reguleringer og praksis kan utformes i forhold til det norske markedet for plusskunder. Våre studier viser at: - Dersom det er ønskelig å øke antall plusskunder, er det viktig med et stabilt, generøst, risikoreduserende, forutsigbart og enkelt støttesystem. De mest effektive støttesystemene som dekker disse kravene har vært såkalte Feed-in-Tariffs (FIT). De knytter et forutsigbart støttenivå og enkle byråkratiske prosedyrer til mengden elektrisitet produsert av plusskundene. - Å redusere transaksjonskostnadene er viktig for økningen av antall plusskunder. Betydningen av reduksjon av transaksjonskostnader er tydelig illustrert gjennom de lokale støtteordningene som er utprøvd i Norge. - Sentrale aktører har ulike innfallsvinkler til betydning av plusskunder i energisystemet og ønske om å tilrettelegge for disse kundene. Nettselskapene uttrykker at de ikke ønsker å bremse utviklingen i solcelleteknologi. De har likevel ikke hatt en aktiv markedsføring av solcelleanlegg eller opplegg for å knytte seg til nettet som plusskunde. Norges Vassdrags- og Energidirektorat (NVE) har liknende perspektiver, og ser der som sin hovedrolle å arbeide med etablerte (vannkraftbaserte) teknologier og regulatoriske løsninger for disse. De gode forholdene for solenergiproduksjon og behovet for miljømessig bærekraft får interesseorganisasjoner og aktører som fremmer solenergi i Norge til å konkludere at det er viktig å stimulere til økt bruk av solceller i Norge, også gjennom aktiv bruk av støtteordninger. - Generelt i den norske befolkningen oppfattes solceller som en dyr investering og mange har ikke særlig kjennskap til solcelleteknologien. I gjennomsnitt oppga husholdningene som deltok i en representativ spørreundersøkelse om solceller, at de var villige til å betale 9.180 kr for installasjon av et solcelleanlegg. - Motivasjon for å investere i solcelleanlegg blant våre plusskundeinformanter er tredelt. Mange oppgir miljø som en viktig motivasjonsfaktor, andre sier de er interessert i teknologi og ser installasjon av solceller som en mulighet til å dyrke denne interessen. Mange av våre informanter som har flyttet inn i hus utstyrt med solceller uten selv aktivt å ha investert i disse, oppgir komfort som en viktig faktor for husvalget sitt. De ønsker å bo i hus hvor de kan leve komfortable liv uten å tenke mye på strømforbruket. - Ingen av våre informanter påpeker en direkte sammenheng mellom det å få solceller og deres samlede energibruk. Når det gjelder energivaner, påpeker de fleste av informantene at de utnytter muligheten for å flytte forbruket sitt til tidspunkter når solcellene produserer strøm. Videre er solceller en viktig faktor for identitetsbygging. Variasjonen i hva som vektlegges samsvarer med deres motivasjon for å anskaffe solceller/flytte inn i hus med solceller. Studiene våre peker på at veksten i plusskunder i det norske markedet i første rekke vil kunne komme som et resultat av markedskrefter hvor husholdningenes egen motivasjon for å skaffe seg solceller er sentralt sammen med videre teknologisk utvikling av solceller. Husholdningenes egen motivasjon for å skaffe seg solceller kan være betydelig og kan bidra til en vesentlig vekst i dette markedet i årene som kommer. Dette skyldes at solceller er interessant for forskjellige kundegrupper...

• Winther, Tanja (2018). Gender equality and Clean energy: Win-win or Conflicting goals?.
• Winther, Tanja (2018). Nettselskaper og andre aktører Oppsummering av aktørenes perspektiver og forventninger til solstrøm i det norske kraftsystemet.
• Winther, Tanja & Gill, Bigsna (2018). Key findings RA1.
• Winther, Tanja; Kildal, Charlotte L & Bjerke, Lise (2018, 23. november). Derfor kan strøm påvirke likestilling. [Internett].
• Westskog, Hege; Winther, Tanja & Aasen, Marianne (2017). The creation of and ecovillage..
• Winther, Tanja (2017). Delaying or enhancing solutions to the Energy Dilemma? Reflections from an Energy Anthropologist.
• Winther, Tanja (2017). Deltakelse i paneldiskusjon under lansering av Norads rapport "Norsk energisamarbeid 2007-15".
• Winther, Tanja (2017, 10. oktober). Electricity as a social phenomenon. [Fagblad].  Antropologia 2.0.
• Winther, Tanja (2017). Energy Anthropology Network Roundable and Discussion.
• Winther, Tanja (2017). Energy and society.
• Winther, Tanja (2017). More nuanced approach to electricity needed to ensure access for all. Development Today.  ISSN 0803-6209.  (2), s 11- 11
• Winther, Tanja (2017). Sustainable Energy and Consumption, UiO.
• Winther, Tanja (2017). Women's Empowerment and electricity Access: Proposal for a framework and methodological challenges.
• Winther, Tanja; Westskog, Hege & Sæle, Hanne (2017). Plusskundenes perspektiver. Oversikt og foreløpige funn fra dybdeintervjuer med plusskunder i Norge.
• Standal, Karina & Winther, Tanja (2016). Elektrisitet redder liv. KILDEN : informasjonssenter for kjønnsforskning.
• Standal, Karina & Winther, Tanja (2016, 19. desember). Empowered by electricity. [Internett].  Kilden.
• Standal, Karina & Winther, Tanja (2016, 12. februar). Equal Participation in Solar Projects Can Empower Women. [Internett].  The Quint.
• Winther, Tanja (2016). Electrification has a gender impact. ScienceNordic.com.
• Winther, Tanja (2016). Electrification in rural Zanzibar.
• Winther, Tanja (2016). Electrification in the South: Strangely little is known about the impact on women's empowerment.
• Winther, Tanja (2016). Getting the right gender indicators: observations, challenges and strategies.
• Winther, Tanja (2016). Matching policy and People? Results from empirical Research in Norway on why measures for sustainable electricity consumption often fail.
• Winther, Tanja (2016, 01. september). Slik har teknologien endret livet for de fattige. [Fagblad].  Bistandsaktuelt.
• Winther, Tanja (2016). Studying domestic practices.
• Winther, Tanja (2016). Women's Empowerment in energy Projects: What is the meaning?.
• Winther, Tanja & Bell, Sandra (2016). Do we want to know? Domesticating In-Home Displays in Norway and the UK.
• Winther, Tanja & Matinga, Margaret (2016). Women’s empowerment through electrification: what is (the) evidence?.
• Winther, Tanja & Palit, Debajit (2016). Strangely little is known about electricity's impact on Women’s Empowerment.
• Winther, Tanja; Palit, Debajit; Matinga, Margaret; Saini, Anjali; Govindan, Mini; Ulsrud, Kirsten; Standal, Karina & Gichungi, Henry (2016). Exploring Factors that Enhance and restrict Women’s Empowerment through Electrification (EFEWEE). Scoping study report.
• Winther, Tanja; Standal, Karina & Hansen, Arve (2016). Gender, energy and consumption.
• Winther, Tanja (2015). Derfor sparer ikke vi nordmenn på strømmen. Aftenposten Viten.
• Winther, Tanja (2015). Electricity and social science: Ongoing Projects and key issues.
• Winther, Tanja (2015). Energi, etikk og det gode liv.
• Winther, Tanja (2015). Gender and development. Show summary

  5 lectures

• Winther, Tanja (2015). Time, relations and senses of belonging: Electricity’s social impact in an African context.
• Winther, Tanja (2015, 07. september). Tverrfaglighetens Tanja. [Fagblad].  Apolllon.
• Winther, Tanja (2015). Why electricity needs anthropology.
• Winther, Tanja & Westskog, Hege (2015). Power from the People: Results from preliminary interviews with prosumers and other stakeholders.
• Winther, Tanja; Wilhite, Harold Langford & Holsten, Hilde Hartmann (2015, 14. desember). Life changes with electricity. [Fagblad].  ScienceNordic. Show summary

  De neste 15 årene vil 1,3 milliarder mennesker få tilgang til elektrisk strøm for første gang. Hva skjer med et samfunn som får elektrisitet?

• Winther, Tanja; Wilhite, Harold Langford & Holsten, Hilde Hartmann (2015, 11. desember). Livet forandrer seg når folk får strøm. [Fagblad].  forskning.no.
• Winther, Tanja (2014, 11. februar). Comeback gir garantert sparing.  Finansavisen.
• Winther, Tanja (2014). Hvorfor er kunnskap om mennesker viktig for bærekraftig utvikling.
• Winther, Tanja (2014). La inn strøm - hadde mindre sex. Plan : Tidsskrift for samfunnsplanlegging, byplan og regional utvikling.  ISSN 0805-083X.  (1), s 42- 43
• Winther, Tanja (2014). Strømmens betydning for folks hverdag i en landsby på Zanzibar.
• Winther, Tanja (2014, 01. april). Ut i verda - men kvar?. [Tidsskrift].  Forskerforum.
• Winther, Tanja & Gurigard, Kjell (2014). EPC-pilot i borettslag. Utprøving av enegisparekontrakt med garanti (EPC) i Nedre Silkestrå borettslag. Rapport til Husbanken og Oslo Kommune.
• Winther, Tanja & Gurigard, Kjell (2014). Energy performance contracting (EPC): A suited tool for achieving energy efficiency in housing associations? Results from a promising Norwegian pilot project.
• Winther, Tanja; Gurigard, Kjell; Molvig, Jørgen; Amundsen, Kristin Helena & Fjeldly, Lisbeth Stokke (2014). Energisparekontrakter med garanti (EPC) i norske boligselskap: Hvordan de fikk det til i Nedre Silkestrå Borettslag.
• Winther, Tanja; Ulsrud, Kirsten & Holsten, Hilde Hartmann (2014, 27. februar). Solar energy provides electricity in remote areas. [Internett].  ScienceNordic. Show summary

  A pilot project in Kenya shows that off-grid village centres providing electricity from solar energy may be a success.

• Winther, Tanja & Westskog, Hege (2014). EPC i kommuner og borettslag - resultater fra forskning og pilotprosjekt.
• Winther, Tanja & Wilhite, Harold Langford (2014). The effect of direct feedback on people's electricity practices.
• Muchunku, Charles; Ulsrud, Kirsten; Winther, Tanja; Debajit, Palit; Saini, Anjali; Mauta, Wycliffe & Rohracher, Harald (2013). The Solar Energy Centre: An approach to village scale solar power supply. The Solar Transitions pilot Project in Kenya.
• Winther, Tanja (2013). Fast, Dangerous and Powerful. Reflections on Electricity from the Field.
• Winther, Tanja (2013). Glimpses from ongoing research on electricity’s social aspects.
• Winther, Tanja (2013). How to take the household perspective into account so as to obtain sustainable energy systems and a positive social impact.
• Winther, Tanja (2013). Kjønn og elektrifisering på Zanzibar. Hvorfor er Zanzibar et godt eksempel? Hva ble gjort riktig, hva kunne vært gjort annerledes/bedre?.
• Winther, Tanja (2013, 08. juli). Smarte målere gir liten spareeffekt.  Aftenposten.
• Winther, Tanja (2013). Social aspects of electricity in a development context.
• Winther, Tanja (2013). Social aspects of local electricity supply. Experiences from the Solar Transitions Project.
• Winther, Tanja (2013). Solar Transitions: Off-grid energy choices from a household perspective – experiences from India and Kenya.
• Winther, Tanja (2013). Space, time, and socio-material relationships: Moral aspects of the arrival of electricity in rural Zanzibar.
• Winther, Tanja (2013). The social impact of electrification. Glimpses from Africa and India.
• Winther, Tanja & Gurigard, Kjell (2013). Pilotprosjekt, Nedre Silkestrå Borettslag: Utprøving av kontrakt med garanti om energisparing (EPC).
• Winther, Tanja & Westskog, Hege (2013). Presentasjon av prosjekt på displays.
• Winther, Tanja & Wilhite, Harold Langford (2013). Rebound from a practice perspective. Towards a better understanding of people's interactions with heat pumps in Norway.
• Holsten, Hilde Hartmann & Winther, Tanja (2012, 14. august). Nordmenn vil ikke betale for fornybar strøm. [Internett].  www.forskning.no. Show summary

  Nordmenn kjøper i liten grad strøm merket som fornybar. Mye skyldes mistro til selskapenes redelighet og en misoppfattelse av at all strøm vi bruker i Norge er ren.

• Westskog, Hege & Winther, Tanja (2012). Electricity – commodity or common property? Implications of people’s attitudes for the forming of sustainable energy policies.
• Westskog, Hege & Winther, Tanja (2012). Electricity: Commodity or a right? Implications of people´s attitudes for the development of sustainable pricing systems.
• Wilhite, Harold Langford; Elverhøi, Anders; Bakken, Vebjørn; Winther, Tanja; Braa, Kristin & Geirbo, Hanne Cecilie (2012). Social impacts of electricity in rural areas.
• Winther, Tanja (2012). The introduction of electricity in the Sunderban Islands, India: Conserving or transforming gender relations?.
• Winther, Tanja & Bouly de Lesdain, Sophie (2012). Electricity as a cultural concept implicated in everyday practices: A comparison of French and Norwegian responses to policy appeals for sustainable energy.

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