The once fast-growing solar installation company that started in a Pasco garage less than a decade ago has declared bankruptcy and is shutting down all operations. 

Solgen Power, once headquartered in Pasco and which most recently did business as Purelight Power from its corporate office in Medford, Oregon, filed documents to dissolve the company and its 11 related entities on Dec. 30 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Washington.  

The company listed assets between $1 million and $10 million, liabilities between $50 million to $100 million, and creditors between 25,000 and 50,000. 

The company requested and was granted a court order to seal the documents that will detail the company’s assets and liabilities. Solgen argued that making those details public could reveal personally identifiable information about current or former employees and customers, exposing them to identity theft. 

“Although I do not have personal knowledge that any of our current or former employees or customers have protection orders against people who may view this court’s docket – which could thereby expose their home addresses – the sheer number of current and former customers, current employees and former employees involved with the twelve debtor entities listed above – totaling approximately 3,000 employees over the last three years and more than 20,000 customers – is a large enough number that I have concerns that disclosure of addresses could lead to harm,” said Josh Siano, Solgen’s chief financial officer, in a filing. 

Purelight Power notified Oregon state officials Dec. 23 that it was shutting down immediately, putting all 109 in-state employees and remote workers out of work by Dec. 26. 

“Simply put, the company is out of time and out of money,” said JD Beck, Solgen’s CEO, in its required Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN), to the state. “The company has begun the process of shutting down its operations nationwide, is no longer operating in the normal course as a commercial enterprise, and shortly will be filing a petition for Chapter 7 liquidation.” 

No path forward 

The Oregon announcement came a month after it notified Washington labor officials that it was shuttering its remaining operations in the state and laying off 106 workers.  

Roughly half those jobs were based at the company’s office in west Pasco and warehouse in Richland. 

Beck said that the shutdown is the result of numerous factors, most notably the passage of H.R. 1, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill championed by President Donald Trump. That legislation dramatically cut solar tax credits and significantly restricted how they could be used. That financial challenge piled on top of others the company was facing, including a prior merger, rising interest rates and increasing advertising costs. 

Solgen leaders attempted to find new financing options and to attract a buyer, which would have preserved jobs. However, the three offers it received were unacceptable to Solgen’s lender, which has declared the company in default and would only provide funds toward the company’s liquidation. 

A&R Solar, a solar installer serving Oregon and Washington, said via its social media that it is already seeing the impact of its competitor’s closure. 

“We’re two days into the first full work week of 2026, and we’ve already heard from half a dozen Purelight customers who need help with their systems,” A&R said in a post. “This is what ‘shuttering operations’ looks like on the ground.” 

“Stories like this are exactly why we’ve been vocal about the risks of large, sales-driven national solar companies that prioritize rapid growth over long-term responsibility … When a solar company installs a system, that’s a 25 to 30 year relationship. Walking away doesn’t just impact employees – it leaves homeowners stranded with systems they still depend on.” 

Reversal of fortunes 

The closure is a stark reversal of fortunes for a company that once employed nearly 400 and had operations across three states, including at a $6.2 million 20,000-square-foot national headquarters building at 5715 Bedford St. in Pasco. 

Its rapid growth began to falter in 2022, when customer complaints about the company and its sales tactics began to multiply. Solgen’s alleged tactics to overpromise on what its solar power systems would deliver to homeowners was one of the examples of the industry’s sales tactics that led Washington state lawmakers to pass tougher consumer protections for the industry. 

The company had a history of safety violations from the state Department of Labor & Industries. There were 11 inspections since 2021 where L&I found issues with Solgen’s fall prevention safeguards. As of August 2025, the company owed L&I more than $460,000 in outstanding penalties. 

Solgen’s bankruptcy proceedings may also face speed bumps. The U.S. Department of Justice is objecting to details of assets and liabilities being placed under seal.  

Unredacted copies of those materials need to be available to the U.S. trustee and the trustee for the Chapter 7 liquidation, and the court also needs to limit notice of the case to only those needed and not everyone Solgen has done business with, the U.S. trustee argued in court documents. 

The trustee also said it does not challenge the idea that federal law allows courts to protect certain personal information, but argued that the request in this instance was “overbroad and procedurally deficient.”