What makes this profile different from a pure academic or a pure consultant is that it works from three vantage points simultaneously.

Top-down : international consulting and policy

Saurabh has advised on solar energy deployments across India and internationally through institutions including the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group), ENGIE, TERI, and the International Solar Alliance. He currently serves as Solar Expert for the ISA STAR-C programme in Bhutan, providing technical capacity-building for the country’s solar deployment pipeline. He is also a Member of the Board of Studies at Shri Ramdeobaba University (RCOEM), Nagpur, contributing to curriculum development in energy engineering.

Middle layer : rigorous academic research

He is a PhD researcher in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at IIT Bombay, working under Prof. Sudarshan Kumar on solar photovoltaics, LCOE analysis, and solar resource assessment. He has 11+ publications and a significant paper in Energy for Sustainable Development (Elsevier, 2024) on repowering utility-scale solar PV in India. His work was presented at SOLAR 2025 – the 54th National Solar Conference of the American Solar Energy Society, University of Colorado Boulder – and he was selected for the ETH Zurich Energy Summer School 2025.

Bottom-up : grassroots sustainability practice

In his home region of Bastar, Chhattisgarh, Saurabh has designed and built one of the state’s first GreenCo 5-star rated green homes, conducted on-site GreenCo assessments of major public-sector facilities, and initiated a green wedding facilitation movement. He also runs Gyaan Daan, a girl child education initiative rooted in the Bastar community.

Credentials

• BEE Certified Energy Auditor
• GreenCo Certified Green Facilitator
• Technical Co-ordinator, Chhattisgarh Solar Welfare Association
• Member, Board of Studies at Shri Ramdeobaba University (RCOEM Nagpur)
• Patrika 40 Under 40