Episode 869
869: How Two Unlikely Founders Are Rewiring the Way Solar Gets Built | Ben Callam & Maksim Markevich of PVFarm
What happens when a builder and a coder decide to fix solar’s biggest disconnect?
In this episode, SunCast host Nico Johnson sits down with Maksim Markevich and Ben Callam, the co-founders of PV Farm—a platform born from frustration with designs that look perfect on screen but fall apart in the field.
Maksim, a self-taught engineer from Belarus, learned to code his way out of rebar spreadsheets and into a global following on YouTube. Ben, an architect who traded drawings for job sites across Africa and the Middle East, discovered what buildability really means when you have to fabricate every part yourself.
Their paths couldn’t have been more different, yet both led to the same realization: most solar design tools fail the buildability test. PV Farm grew out of that shared conviction—bridging the gap between upstream creativity and downstream execution.
You’ll hear:
🔹 Why most solar software misses what EPCs actually need
🔹 How collaboration—not just automation—is key to solar scale
🔹 What “starting downstream” in software really looks like
🔹 The early sparks that shaped PV Farm’s engineering DNA
🔹 Why better feedback loops between civil and electrical teams can change everything
A story of code, construction, and the craft of making clean energy truly buildable.
Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolar
If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.
Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!
You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.
Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 850 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.
Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/
You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:
