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NineDot Energy is a creative problem-solver for the urban electricity grid

Innovation in urban clean energy

We’re energy business innovators

NineDot’s name derives from the classic mathematical puzzle for sparking out-of-the-box solutions. David, Adam and Nalin combined their skills and experiences in clean-energy analysis, science and entrepreneurship to build exciting and important urban energy projects.

Founded in 2015, based at the NYU Urban Future Lab in Brooklyn and backed by Carlyle, we’re committed to providing clean energy solutions to the New York area and beyond.

Our mission and vision

Mission statement

At NineDot Energy, our team of creative collaborators share a passion to design and execute innovative solutions that leverage technology, policy, and markets to support a sustainable future. 

Vision statement

Climate change is the most critical issue of our time: as such, we aspire to have a positive impact on the environment and the society in which we live and work.

Our story – experience and expertise

When a chaos physicist, a finance professor and a clean-tech entrepreneur got together, good things happened.

The beginning - 2014

Before 2014, David creates SolarCity’s SolarLease®, driving a multi-billion $ industry; Adam joins the DOE after receiving his PhD in physics; Nalin publishes a breakthrough paper on residential solar risk.

So with a foundation in solar strategy, business, finance and physics, NineDot Energy’s co-founders (David Arfin, Adam Cohen and Nalin Kulatilaka) meet and begin their work together.

solar city logoUS department of energy logo Boston University logo

 

 

2015 - 2019

Our Co-founders create CertainSolar (the predecessor to NineDot Energy), self-funding its work while receiving a $490k matching grant from the SunShot Initiative of the Department of Energy; hone in on projects for community-scale energy; and lease its first sites in New York City.

2019 - 2021

As Certain Solar begins work on two fuel cell projects, the Company achieves first revenues and focuses on local distributed battery storage sites. initially in Staten Island and the Bronx, to help NYC’s grid. NineDot receives growth capital from Carlyle to expand the team and our project pipeline while also announcing our V2G (vehicle-to-grid) pilot.

2022

Now NineDot Energy (reflecting the Company’s broader energy vision), the Company announces the first Tesla Megapack site in New York, a milestone in the city’s energy transition, and a harbinger of things to come.

By the end of 2026

We plan to develop, build, and operate more than 400 megawatts (MW) of clean energy systems that will strengthen the local power grid infrastructure and provide clean, reliable, and resilient power to tens of thousands of New York households and businesses, in support of New York State’s mission to achieve 100% clean energy by 2040.

Meet NineDot Energy

NineDot Energy’s DNA is all about anticipating market changes in pursuit of creating businesses that serve the greater good. We combine an entrepreneurial willingness to do new things, a businessperson’s understanding of project economics, and a project developer’s capacity to get things done, to deliver results that make a difference.

Founders

David Alter

David Arfin

CEO, co-founder
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David Alter

David Arfin

CEO, co-founder


David is driven to create innovative finance offerings to accelerate the adoption of clean energy. David invented SolarCity’s SolarLease®, the game-changing solar financing program. He received the first-ever Innovation in PV Financing Award from the Solar Energy Industry Association. David is a co-founder of Ener-Pacte (France) and SolarNGreen (Mexico). Prior to SolarCity, David was co-founder and CEO of GlooLabs (acquired by Cisco Systems), and was the founder and CEO of CLE Group (acquired by PLI). He received an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, an MA in Public Policy Analysis from the Claremont Graduate University, and a BA in Political Science from UCLA.

Adam Cohen, PhD

CTO, co-founder
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Adam Cohen, PhD

CTO, co-founder


Adam is a physicist who thinks of our energy system as a complex, interconnected experimental laboratory. He seeks to uncover small technical, financial, and regulatory improvements that will cause tipping points for clean energy diffusion. Prior to NineDot, Adam was Science Team Lead for Split Technology, a smart transportation start-up (acquired by Volkswagen Group). Adam was a post-doctoral fellow of the U.S. Department of Energy where he launched a new research program applying social and behavioral science to scale up solar energy adoption. He earned a PhD from the Chaos Group at University of Maryland and a BS in physics from Bucknell University.

Nalin Kalatilaka

Nalin Kulatilaka

Chief strategy officer, co-founder
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Nalin Kalatilaka

Nalin Kulatilaka

Chief strategy officer, co-founder


Nalin is Wing Tat Lee Family Professor of Management and Professor of Finance at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business where he also serves as the co-director of the Susilo Institute for Ethics in the Global Economy. Nalin’s current research interests include impact investing and financing distributed energy resources. Nalin has published extensively in top academic journals as well as influential managerial publications. His book, Real Options (HBS Press), has received wide acclaim. His honors include Bertil Danielson Chair (Stockholm School of Economics), Takang Chair (Tamkang University, Taipei), and the Association for Investment Management and Research’s Graham and Dodd Award. He has co-founded several companies including FirstFuel Software (energy data analytics), and NineDot Energy (community distributed generation for congested urban grids). He serves on the Board of Directors of Assette. Nalin holds a PhD from MIT

Team

Anthony Santamaria

Senior technical manager
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Anthony Santamaria

Senior technical manager

Becca Schofield-Cohen

Analytics manager
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Becca Schofield-Cohen

Analytics manager

Carlijn Goldberg

Finance project manager
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Carlijn Goldberg

Finance project manager

Clemencia Vera

Clemencia Vera

VP, finance
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Clemencia Vera

Clemencia Vera

VP, finance

Emily Wheeler

Chief of staff
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Emily Wheeler

Chief of staff

Fred Polirer

Head of people operations
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Fred Polirer

Head of people operations

Fred Farella

Project developer
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Fred Farella

Project developer

Hunter Prange

Associate project manager
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Hunter Prange

Associate project manager

Jean Jarrett-Davis

Accounting analyst
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Jean Jarrett-Davis

Accounting analyst

Jerneeka Sams

Talent acquisition specialist
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Jerneeka Sams

Talent acquisition specialist

Joe Silver

Joe Silver

Product manager
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Joe Silver

Joe Silver

Product manager

Jon Carbajal

Director, product development
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Jon Carbajal

Director, product development

Karen Alter

Chief marketing officer
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Karen Alter

Chief marketing officer

Linda Tatlow

Regulatory analyst
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Linda Tatlow

Regulatory analyst

Madeline Zdeblick

Product development analyst
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Madeline Zdeblick

Product development analyst

Mac Anderson-Cooper

Development assistant
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Mac Anderson-Cooper

Development assistant

Martin Versaille

Associate director, project finance
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Martin Versaille

Associate director, project finance

Nick Lombardi

Director, project development
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Nick Lombardi

Director, project development

Olivia Booth-Howe

Associate engineering manager
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Olivia Booth-Howe

Associate engineering manager

Preston

Preston Roper

Senior advisor, e-mobility
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Preston

Preston Roper

Senior advisor, e-mobility

Roger Nehls

Executive assistant
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Roger Nehls

Executive assistant

Sam McGarvey

Development associate
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Sam McGarvey

Development associate

Shin Takiguchi

Controller
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Shin Takiguchi

Controller

Victoria Foti

VP, project operations
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Victoria Foti

VP, project operations

Board of Directors

Adam Cohen, PhD

CTO, co-founder
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Adam Cohen, PhD

CTO, co-founder


Adam is a physicist who thinks of our energy system as a complex, interconnected experimental laboratory. He seeks to uncover small technical, financial, and regulatory improvements that will cause tipping points for clean energy diffusion. Prior to NineDot, Adam was Science Team Lead for Split Technology, a smart transportation start-up (acquired by Volkswagen Group). Adam was a post-doctoral fellow of the U.S. Department of Energy where he launched a new research program applying social and behavioral science to scale up solar energy adoption. He earned a PhD from the Chaos Group at University of Maryland and a BS in physics from Bucknell University.

David Alter

David Arfin

CEO, co-founder
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David Alter

David Arfin

CEO, co-founder


David is driven to create innovative finance offerings to accelerate the adoption of clean energy. David invented SolarCity’s SolarLease®, the game-changing solar financing program. He received the first-ever Innovation in PV Financing Award from the Solar Energy Industry Association. David is a co-founder of Ener-Pacte (France) and SolarNGreen (Mexico). Prior to SolarCity, David was co-founder and CEO of GlooLabs (acquired by Cisco Systems), and was the founder and CEO of CLE Group (acquired by PLI). He received an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, an MA in Public Policy Analysis from the Claremont Graduate University, and a BA in Political Science from UCLA.

David Glick

David Gluck

Managing Director, Renewable and Sustainable Energy, The Carlyle Group
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David Glick

David Gluck

Managing Director, Renewable and Sustainable Energy, The Carlyle Group

Nalin Kalatilaka

Nalin Kulatilaka

Chief strategy officer, co-founder
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Nalin Kalatilaka

Nalin Kulatilaka

Chief strategy officer, co-founder


Nalin is Wing Tat Lee Family Professor of Management and Professor of Finance at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business where he also serves as the co-director of the Susilo Institute for Ethics in the Global Economy. Nalin’s current research interests include impact investing and financing distributed energy resources. Nalin has published extensively in top academic journals as well as influential managerial publications. His book, Real Options (HBS Press), has received wide acclaim. His honors include Bertil Danielson Chair (Stockholm School of Economics), Takang Chair (Tamkang University, Taipei), and the Association for Investment Management and Research’s Graham and Dodd Award. He has co-founded several companies including FirstFuel Software (energy data analytics), and NineDot Energy (community distributed generation for congested urban grids). He serves on the Board of Directors of Assette. Nalin holds a PhD from MIT

Pooja Goyal

Pooja Goyal

Chief Investment Officer, Infrastructure Group, The Carlyle Group
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Pooja Goyal

Pooja Goyal

Chief Investment Officer, Infrastructure Group, The Carlyle Group

We’d love to hear from you

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