Rajeeva Lahri: Waited 30 Years To Do His Startup

By kamla bhatt • May 29th, 2008
Category: Business & Tech, Diaspora, Ideas, San Francisco/Silicon Valley

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Rajeeva Lahri of Signet SolarWhat does it feel to be pregnant with a startup idea for 30 years? Meet Dr. Rajeeva Lahri, co-founder and CEO of Signet Solar, Menlo-Park based cleantech company, who knows all about the long wait.

Rajeeva waited 30 years before he could do his startup and earlier this week his company completed their first important milestone. The company announced the fabrication of the industry’s first ever silicon thin film solar PV module at its new factory near Dresden, Germany. Understandably Rajeeva is very excited about the progress his startup has made thus far. The company recently announced its plan to expand its operations in the Southern state of Tamil Nadu, India. Signet Solar has raised funding through a friends and family round.

During the energy crisis of the 1970s Rajeeva thought of starting a solar company, but by the time he completed his PhD the interest level in alternative energy had faded. He started his professional career in Silicon Valley working in the semi-conductor industry sector. He has been a senior executive at Fairchild/National Semiconductor, VLSI, Tessera, Philips Semiconductor, and Intersil, where he was CTO and VP of world-wide operations.

Passion, right timing and right people were the ingredients that led to the birth of Signet Solar.

Tune in to find out what Rajeeva has to say about cleantech, future of cleantech and running a startup.

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6 Responses »

  1. anon on June 2nd, 2008 at 6:00 pm:

    very nice interview … what ARE these incentives that Germany is giving? A question to ask next time you visit the solar panels on his house in ‘009!

  2. ALOK SRIVASTAVA on June 3rd, 2008 at 4:49 pm:

    Very good interview.
    India needs NRIs like Dr. Rajeeva Lahri to resolve the acute problem of Power in India.
    We wish him all the best for his projects in India.

    ALOK SRIVASTAVA,
    1821, Sector – 16, FARIDABAD, Haryana, INDIA.

  3. kamla bhatt on June 4th, 2008 at 4:01 am:

    Anon:

    Thanks for your suggestions…I will make sure to include those questions the next time I do an interview with Rajeeva. Great point to remember.

    Alok:

    Thanks for your feedback and for listening to the interview.

    Cheers!

    kamla

  4. Shad Siddiqui on July 19th, 2008 at 8:21 pm:

    Kamla:

    It was wonderful to listen to Dr. Lahiri. As we are aware that India is facing an acute power shortage, I guess it would be worth pursuing the case (solar/clean technology) with the Indian government. Also tie-ups could be made with smaller companies (as with the one in Sahibabad, U.P., where Rajeev himself worked for a while) to promote/support the idea. Would you ask him if efforts are being made in this direction? I look forward to a day when we would be self-relient in our energy needs.

    Kind Regards,
    Shad

    Alberta, Canada

  5. Surya on May 14th, 2009 at 4:19 am:

    Dear Kamla, nice interview. Its great that Rajeev is contributing to the success of the technology. I feel the following questions should have been asked in the interview.

    As far as India is concerned, the fact remains that most people and small scale industries cannot afford the technology. Neither do they understand the importance of renewable energy to their own future. How does Signet India intend to deal with this? Are there any efforts in this direction to promote this ‘life saver’ technology in India and help people who need it most but do not understand the value?

    Another issue is energy storage does Signet intend to help the poor indian farmers & small scale industries in rural areas who need a reliable source of power with this technology somehow, for sustainable development. I’d love to contact Rajeev and ask more questions, if possible can I get his email?

    Best,
    Surya.

  6. rakesh sinha on June 17th, 2010 at 12:32 am:

    Dear Rajeeva

    The work signet solar should reach entire world and every person should feel the importance of alternative energy to save from global warming.I wish him all the best

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