By Joel Williams

Brian Cullen runs on solar power. His commitment to the cause motivates him to get up every morning for his company, CAM Solar Inc., which designs and installs systems that produce electricity from sunlight.

“Solar electricity is different from other businesses,” Cullen says. “It’s something that transcends the almighty dollar. You do it because you are really passionate about it.”

After entering the San Antonio market in September 2010, Cullen moved CAM Solar’s headquarters here from Dallas in March 2011. Since then, the company has contracted to install 15 San Antonio residential projects and commercial projects around the state, including Marriott Hotels in Amarillo, Campbell Soup Co. in Paris, and Hewlett-Packard Co. in Houston.

Cullen says that CPS Energy’s rebate program, combined with strong community support and the sunny climate, motivated the move to San Antonio.

“The incentives that CPS Energy offers are among the best in the country,” Cullen says. “The climate here in South Texas is one of the best places on the globe for clean solar power. CAM Solar is thrilled to be right here in the middle of an entire city that seems destined to be a world leader in solar electricity and energy-efficient technologies.”

CAM Solar has become one of CPS Energy’s most active solar energy service providers since relocating. The company has hired six people locally and has contracted with a San Antonio-based marketing firm in support of the area’s green economy initiatives.

A licensed Texas electrical contractor certified by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners, CA has contracted to install approximately 150 kilowatts of solar power in San Antonio in recent months.

Its CPS Energy certification as a solar contractor makes installations by CAM Solar eligible for rebates from the utility.

“They do a lot of business with us, and I think that speaks to their reputation,” says Tony Guion, CPS Energy’s product manager for residential and commercial solar energy. “They’re doing their part for green energy.”

CAM Solar also is committed to a strong educational component, participating on college curriculum advisory boards and taking part in local solar industry events.

In May 2011, the company was a sponsor of the Solar Fest, where it featured the “Solar Roller,” a mobile educational trailer with an array of solar energy-producing panels on the roof. Visitors to various industry shows have an opportunity to see how solar energy works in real time, including power output, voltage and current characteristics, battery capacity, and other details designed to make the process easy to understand.

It also uses the power generated to run fans, computers, lights, and other energy-consuming devices, including a monitor that scrolls through some of the company’s past installations and PowerPoint presentations touting the benefits of solar energy.

The trailer is a prototype of a larger mobile unit the company is developing for use with special events, programs and disaster relief in the region. Cullen says inspiration for the mobile unit came during a trip to Haiti — following the devastating earthquake last year — to supply a solar energy system to a school.

Cullen, a former Marine, sees solar power as a way to ease United States’ reliance on Middle East oil. And he says that mobile solar power units could help save lives of military members in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan, where many military members have died in roadside incidents while delivering fuel for generators at remote outposts.

JOEL WILLIAMS is a San Antonio freelance writer.