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2009–2011

Fresh out of a PhD in Physics from the University of Florida, Naveen landed in Hawaii to work in solar energy — and began a journey that would take him from island paradise to the dusty deserts of Rajasthan, through China, Africa, and Sri Lanka.

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Hawaii & the Naive Climate Warrior

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The Beginning: Solar Energy in Paradise

Right out of college with his Physics degree, Naveen started working in solar energy in Hawaii. "Everyone was very jealous," he recalls, "because they said that now that I've gone to Hawaii, I'll never come back."

The work involved solar collector technology — including installations with Sopogy, a Hawaiian concentrated solar power company — and hands-on rooftop solar installations that gave him ground-level understanding of renewable energy deployment.

"Everybody has this island mentality, right? In two years of going there you decide on whether it's too isolated and beautiful for you to come out, or again too isolated and beautiful, hence too idyllic, for you to stay."

He came out. "I knew it wasn't representative of the real world — the real world is too chaotic!"

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The Wandering Consultant

After Hawaii, Naveen was travelling in China, Africa, and Sri Lanka — consulting for various companies and NGOs. "I used it as an excuse to travel and meet my friends," he says. The strategy? "You have friends in all these places, you go and exploit their friendship, and stay at their places."

This period shaped a worldview that would later inform NuMarg: understanding how energy systems, sustainability challenges, and economic realities intersect across very different geographies and cultures.

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On Sustainable Energy

"I love solar!" Naveen says. "The resistance is always economical. You give them a way to reduce their tax burden, and everybody will jump in. Businesses have already jumped in, consumers need a tax break and that will be it."

"No one is actually looking at the long run. It's long-term thinking versus short-term thinking and I don't blame people in India for not taking it upfront. We are still a lower-middle income country and you can't be expected to suddenly make the transitions that Germany or Japan did. Even they have structures that help them out, tax-breaks wise. These things are coming, for sure! And that's exciting."

Connect With NuMarg

If you would like to learn more about NuMarg’s work or discuss potential collaboration, please reach out.

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9187483610

We look forward to connecting.

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