Scaling Clean: Akshay Sagar on Discipline, Focus, and Leading the World’s Largest Solar O&M Company
In this episode of Scaling Clean, I sat down with Akshay Sagar, CEO of NovaSource Power, at RE+ Vegas in the PowerUp Pro Studio Booth (H/T to Nico Johnson and the Suncast team). NovaSource is the world’s largest solar O&M provider, managing more than 30 gigawatts of solar and storage projects worldwide.
After decades in oil and gas with companies like Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Patterson-UTI, Akshay made the switch into renewables. He’s led three major corporate turnarounds, launched an AI-driven platform, and built teams that thrive on accountability and ownership.
Here are his big three points:
Great leadership starts with people, not assets
“Organizations are made up of two things: people and steel. Steel I can buy, I can build, I can mold. I really have to focus on the people.”
Akshay finds and invests in talent that’s better than himself because those individuals can form great teams and make you a better leader. He says great leaders should never be intimidated by strong voices or ideas in the room - they should welcome them.
He also credits his own success to the people who invested in him along the way. Someone took a chance on him, he says, and that experience drives his commitment to do the same for others.
During turbulent times, your team needs 5 things: Ownership, discipline, accountability, urgency and austerity
Having managed at least three corporate turnarounds, Akshay believes that culture outweighs strategy every time.
He defines five non-negotiables for his teams: ownership, discipline, accountability, urgency, and austerity. Those values are what keep an organization aligned during turbulent times.
“Industries may go through inflections. That’s just a moment of reset,” he explains. “Resets allow us to be a lot more efficient.”
Focus is a superpower
When asked whether NovaSource plans to expand into other energy verticals, Akshay doesn’t hesitate to say no.
Instead of chasing every new opportunity, he focuses on what NovaSource does best, which is optimizing utility-scale solar and storage assets. “(People) think (they) can handle it all, but we don't do it very well. Staying very focused has much more upside.”
That disciplined focus has paid off, since NovaSource-operated sites are now producing 25% more energy than peer facilities, according to public data.
Why This Conversation Matters
For me, this episode highlights three truths about leadership in clean energy:
- Talent is the real infrastructure. Akshay’s “people over steel” philosophy reminds us that no amount of capital or technology replaces great teams.
- The companies that survive industry resets are the ones that lead with ownership, discipline, accountability, urgency and austerity.
- In a fast-growing sector, knowing what not to do can be your greatest strategic advantage.
Listen to the full conversation on Apple, Spotify, Radio Public, Amazon Music, and iHeart.