Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 10

97 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 10 to finalize the delivery of the Megapack batteries and energization before going live,” Jim adds. “Once up and running, it will save the utility tens of thousands of dollars per month on-demand charges, paying itself back fairly quickly.” Although small and new to the utility-level solar game, SolarCAM is proud to be a pioneer of utility-scale solar installations in Indiana, working alongside a local utility and Tesla, the largest solar battery company globally. “They (Tesla and Fulton County) have a lot of confidence in what we do, despite the small size of our company,” says Jim. “Yes, it is scary putting in the first utility-scale solar system with storage in the state of Indiana, but our communications with Tesla have been excellent. They understand this is our first rodeo, and they want it to be as successful as we do. All the folks that we talked to at Tesla have been down to earth and very helpful.” For SolarCAM, the COVID-19 pandemic did not have that much effect because of a combination of rural area layouts and ground-mounted installation, which made social distancing easy. “We sailed right through the pandemic,” admits Jim. “Aside from one crew getting infected, our business continued growing through the last year and a half, with 2021 expected to be our best year yet.” In addition to continued external growth, the company is also buoyed by the number of patents Jim holds, a strong foundation the company is building on. He reports, “I have around 20 solo patents in energy and agriculture. The biggest challenge I have is that there isn’t enough time to pursue everything at once. For now, I must concentrate on keeping my SolarCAM guys busy, so that’s my current focus.” At 70 years of age, Jim is an active contributor to the SolarCAM business. Still, he hopes to relinquish more responsibilities to Mike as the company transitions to the next generation. “My AG TECHNOLOGI ES , INC . (SOLARCAM)