Our story
Born in Portland. Powered by purpose.
HELIO was founded in 2011 by a team of utility engineers who were frustrated watching customers overpay for electricity while the sun shone unused on their rooftops. We set out to make solar transparent, affordable, and straightforward.
Thirteen years and 1,200+ installations later, that mission hasn't changed. We still file our own permits, employ our own installation crews, and answer our own phones. No subcontractors. No call centres. Just honest solar, done right.
1,200+
Systems installed
13 yrs
In business
$4.8M
Customer savings/yr
4.9 ★
Average rating
Our mission
"To make clean energy accessible, understandable, and financially compelling for every homeowner and business in the Pacific Northwest — one rooftop at a time."
How we got here
- 11
2011
HELIO founded in Portland, OR with a 5-person team and a single install truck.
- 13
2013
Expanded to Washington State. Completed our 100th residential installation.
- 15
2015
Launched commercial division. Signed first carport project with Multnomah County.
- 18
2018
Opened second operations hub in Beaverton. Crossed 500 total installations.
- 20
2020
Introduced battery storage as a standard option. Launched monitoring app v2.
- 22
2022
Crossed 1,000 installed systems. $4M+ in annual customer savings generated.
- 24
2024
Added EV charging integration. Expanded to Bend and the Oregon Coast.
Our leadership team
Sarah Okonkwo
CEO & Co-Founder
Former utility engineer who spent 10 years at Pacific Power before co-founding HELIO. Sarah leads company strategy and has overseen 800+ commercial installations.
Marcus Chen
Chief Technology Officer
Electrical engineer with a focus on grid interconnection and battery systems. Designed HELIO's proprietary monitoring platform and leads our R&D team.
Leila Ramirez
Director of Residential
Led 1,000+ residential installs across Oregon and Washington. Leila's team delivers the industry's highest homeowner satisfaction scores in the PNW.
Tom Patterson
Director of Commercial
15 years in commercial construction before moving to solar. Tom specialises in large-scale rooftop and carport systems and PPA structuring.
Certifications & licensing
NABCEP Certified
All lead installers hold North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners certification.
Oregon CCB Licensed
Oregon Construction Contractors Board License #214886.
Washington Electrical Contractor
Washington State Department of Labor & Industries EC License #HELIOSL810QC.
Insurance & Bonding
General liability $2M per occurrence, workers' compensation, and surety bond.
Work with a team you can trust
Over 1,200 Pacific Northwest homeowners and businesses chose HELIO. Find out why.