CANDELA’S TEAM IS GROWING IN 2025
Candela is expanding our team to meet the challenges and opportunities of 2025. We’re delighted to welcome Matt Von Tungeln, Jason Garewal and Stephen Nakada to Candela. Both Matt and Stephen are alumni of First Solar, Inc. and are rejoining the members of the Candela team who also worked there.
Matt Von Tungeln, Vice President, Real Estate
Matt leads the real estate team in identifying, acquiring and de-risking real property for the development of Candela’s projects.
Matt has 15 years of experience in the energy industry, both in renewable energy and the oil and gas industry. The first decade of his career was in the oil and gas industry working both in-house for a Fortune 500 energy company and in private practice. Before joining Candela, Matt worked for Peregrine Energy Solutions, Leeward Renewable Energy and First Solar, holding real estate and development roles. In the five years he has worked in the renewable energy industry, Matt has led the real estate and development efforts for over 1,500 MW of operating projects and a development pipeline of over 25 GW.
Matt has a B.S. in Agricultural Business from Oklahoma State University and a J.D. from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Matt is licensed to practice law in both Oklahoma and California.
Jason Garewal, Senior Director, Project Development
Jason is responsible for managing development activities for some of Candela’s projects in the western United States. He has sixteen years of experience in renewable energy project finance and development in the United States and Mexico.
Most recently, he led the development of three solar projects totaling over 500 Megawatts for 174 Power Global and two wind projects totaling 150 Megawatts for Oak Creek Energy as Senior Director and Vice President of Development. Prior to his career in renewable energy, he was a mechanical engineer designing automated equipment and production processes for the semiconductor manufacturing industry.
Jason earned an MBA from the Rady School of Management at the University of California San Diego and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
Stephen Nakada, Senior Manager, Development Engineering
Stephen manages technical aspects of development to ensure the successful implementation of solar and energy storage projects across Candela’s portfolio. He uses a multi-disciplinary approach for layout designs that optimizes energy production, while considering site constraints, equipment limitations, and construction feasibility. His responsibilities include design support for permitting compliance, cost estimating, interconnection design, procurement coordination, O&M planning, construction feasibility assessments, and risk management.
Stephen has over 12 years of technical expertise in renewable energy development and most recently led the development engineering team for Vesper Energy’s 14+ GW portfolio. Previously he worked at First Solar with the business and project development teams across North and South America. Additionally, he supported tax equity and debt transactions for Ecoplexus as a Technical Manager and has extensive experience working with Independent Engineers to develop investor-approved assets.
Stephen holds a BA in Environmental Studies and a BS in Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles and has an Executive MBA from the Quantic School of Business and Technology.
Welcome Matt, Jason and Stephen!