Jigar Shah
| Jigar Shah | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Jigar Hasmukh Shah August 30, 1974 Modasa, India |
| Citizenship | USA |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois |
| Occupation | Clean energy entrepreneur |
| Known for |
Founder, SunEdison CEO, Carbon War Room |
| Spouse(s) | Khushali Shah |
| Children | Dhilan Shah (2015) |
| Website | http://creatingclimatewealth.co/ |
Jigar Shah is a clean energy entrepreneur in creating market-driven solutions and eliminating market barriers to address climate change. Shah has recognized this as “Creating Climate Wealth.”
Shah maintains that Climate Wealth is created when mainstream investors team up with entrepreneurs, corporations, mainstream capital, and governments at scale to solve the big problems of our time while generating compelling financial returns – not concessionary returns.[1]
Current business initiatives
Shah is the co-founder and President of Generate Capital. .[2] Shah is author of Creating Climate Wealth: Unlocking the Impact Economy, 2013 Icosa Publishing. The book talks about the prominent role of business model innovation, more than new technology, in attracting mainstream capital and unlocking transformational change. In the book, the author pictures reaching our 2020 climate change goals as means to create the next economy with the equivalent of 100,000 companies worldwide, each generating $100 million in sales. Shah argues that, while new technical innovation is valuable, deployment of existing technologies are the key to reaching our near-term climate targets.
In addition, Shah is President of Generate Capital.[3] Lastly, Shah serves as a board member of the Carbon War Room, a global organization he previously served as CEO.[4]
Shah has also become an outspoken advocate to end all energy subsidies, including those for renewable energy, to "create a level playing field." [5]
In 2013, Jigar served as a mentor for Unreasonable at Sea, a technology business accelerator for social entrepreneurs seeking to scale their ventures in international markets. Founded by Unreasonable Group, Semester at Sea, and Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.[6] Shah writes for Unreasonable Group’s venture UNREASONABLE.is, a hub for social entrepreneurs.[7]
Past business initiatives
From 2009 to March 2012, Shah served as the first CEO of the Carbon War Room, the global organization founded by Richard Branson and Virgin United that works to harness the power of entrepreneurship to deploy solution technologies at scale.
Prior to his tenure as Carbon War Room CEO, Shah's founded SunEdison in 2003. The company simplified solar as a service through the implementation of the power purchase agreement (PPA) business model. That model changed the status quo, allowing organizations to purchase solar energy services under long-term predictably priced contracts and avoid the significant capital costs of ownership and operation of solar energy systems. The SunEdison business model is a recognized catalyst that helped turn solar PV into a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide.
Shah previously worked in strategy for BP Solar and as a contractor for the Department of Energy on alternative vehicles and fuel cell programs.[8]
Early life
Born in India, Shah moved to the United States with his family when he was one year old. Shah moved to Sterling, Illinois when he was eight years old.[9]
Education
Shah holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana,[10] and an MBA from the University of Maryland.[11][12]
References
- ↑ "Fast Company: Jigar Shah". Fast Company. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
- ↑ "Meet Generate Capital, a new way to fund energy projects". Retrieved 4 December 2014.
- ↑ "After Building SunEdison, Jigar Shah Eyes $1 Trillion Opportunities". Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ↑ "Solar Guru Jigar Shah on his new book: 'Creating Climate Wealth'". Retrieved 22 October 2013.
- ↑ "Jigar Shah argues for an end to fossil fuel subsidies -- and a phase-out of clean energy subsidies'". Retrieved 1 March 2014.
- ↑ http://www.semesteratsea.org/discover-sas/signature-programs/past-programs/unreasonable-at-sea/
- ↑ http://unreasonable.is/?s=jigar+shah
- ↑ "Jigar Shah Bio". Retrieved 22 October 2013.
- ↑ "Jigar Shah, taking on a Gigaton of Change". BIF6. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
- ↑ "Renewable energy leader reflects on time at Illinois". University of Illinois. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
- ↑ "SunEdison founder Jigar Shah joins Empower Energies board". PV-Tech. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
- ↑ "Welcome the World Changers". University of Maryland. Retrieved 2013-08-24.