A solar installation company that started in Pasco and was once on Inc. Magazine’s 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America appears to be closing down.
Solgen Power, most recently doing business as Purelight Power, will shuttter its locations across Washington state, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification from the state’s Employment Security Department.
Roughly half of the 106 jobs that will be lost are based at the company’s office in west Pasco and warehouse in Richland.
The company’s letter to the state indicated that all employees will be let go Jan. 13 and were given 60 days’ notice on Nov. 13. Solgen did not indicate a cause for the closure.
A request for comment to Solgen from the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business regarding the company’s future was not immediately returned.
The closure is a stark reversal of fortunes for a company that once employed nearly 400, had operations across three states, including at a $6.2 million 20,000-square-foot national headquarters building at 5715 Bedford St.
The company was founded in 2017 in a Pasco garage. In 2021, when it completed its headquarters building, it employed more than 300 across its corporate, sales and installation divisions. That same year it was named to Inc. Magazine’s list of fastest growing companies, coming in at No. 12 with a reported 21,790% growth.
In 2022, Solgen announced plans to invest $5 million to build two new buildings at the Port of Pasco’s Airport Business Center, one a 100,000-square-foot operations facility and the other a 10,000-square foot hangar with airport access and offices for company executives. State economic development officials committed nearly $3 million to extend a taxiway and a road at the business center contingent upon Solgen Power’s lease being signed.
But the company’s ascent was beginning to stall. The company changed its name to Purelight Power in 2022 at a time when customer complaints about the company and its sales tactics began to multiply. It also moved out of its headquarters building, instead leasing it out, and was most recently based out of Medford, Oregon, according to state labor officials.
The company had a history of safety violations from the state Department of Labor & Industries (L&I). 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.
In 2023, a class action lawsuit was filed against the company by former workers alleging Solgen unlawfully required workers to sign noncompetition agreements as a condition of employment and illegally prohibits employees from maintaining second jobs.
A Longview couple sued Solgen and their lender for the solar power installation at their home in 2024, with their attorney alleging in U.S. District Court that the company deceived her clients into believing that an expensive, 77-panel design was a financially sound investment for them.
“Solgen misled Mr. and Mrs. Cummins to believe their electricity bills would reduce more than 85% after purchase of the solar panels when it only produced less than $15 to $20 in monthly savings and financing a defective product that did not deliver as intended,” wrote Henry on behalf of the homeowners.
Solgen Power sought to have the case dismissed because the homeowners signed a contract full of disclaimers that put all the risk on the homeowner and the company can’t be held liable for the accuracy or lack thereof of the information it provides to costumers.
“The company does not guarantee any energy savings, efficiencies, or cost savings through the use of the Solar Array. Information provided about energy savings, efficiencies, and cost savings is solely for illustrative purposes,” the contract said.
The suit was settled out-of-court, but was one of the examples of reported overpromises of the industry’s sales tactics that led state lawmakers to pass tougher consumer protections for the industry.
The state Department of Revenue filed a judgment against the company for unpaid taxes in October.