Laid-off solar workers aim to fill the gap left by former solar company's closure
Kenny Freeman, co-founder of Revival Solar, is renovating his backyard shed into the headquarters of his solar repair company, Revival Solar, on Jan. 16, 2026. (Credit: Danny Stipanovich)
Medford, OREGON — Just two days before Christmas, dozens of Southern Oregon solar workers at PureLight Power found themselves unexpectedly jobless after the company shutdown nationwide operations.
“There were a lot of tears that day,” said Jonah Richey, the senior manager for the solar repair department. “We had the rug pulled out from under us.”
“Not a lot of things make me cry, but I was crying that day,” said Kenny Freeman, PureLight Power’s director of customer experience.
Kristie Priddle, former employee at PureLight Power, poses for a photo. Priddle is helping Revival Solar with technical help behind-the-scenes. (Credit: Kristie Priddle)
For Kristie Priddle, who worked in customer service, the closure has been challenging.
“Personally it’s been a lot of depression, honestly,” Priddle said. “Getting up and going to work every day gives you purpose.”
For Freeman and Richey, they took this as an opportunity.
Christmas Eve and Christmas day was for friends and family. The 26th, the two officially launched Revival Solar, a business focused on solar repairs and maintenance.
Revival Solar is a Medford based solar repair and maintenance company started by two for PureLight Power employees who lost their job on Dec. 23, 2025. (Credit: Revival Solar, Facebook)
According to Priddle, PureLight Power received about 200 calls a day, up to 1,000 a week.
”The majority of those calls are, “There’s something wrong with my solar,” or “I need help with something on my monitoring,”’ Priddle said.
The impact of PureLight shutting down is far-reaching, with Freeman noting the extensive need for support in the solar industry.
Jonah Richey, co-founder of Revival Solar, is organizing solar construction gear on Jan. 16, 2026. Richey worked in the repair department for PureLight Power before the company shut down operations on Dec. 23, 2025. (Credit: Danny Stipanovich)
“There are roughly 35,000 solar installs in Oregon where the original installer has gone out of business. People still need help,” said Freeman. “We had customers reaching out to us asking, ‘What do I do next? What happens to my system?’”
Jonah Richey, co-founder of Revival Solar, lays out materials he uses for solar repair and maintenance work on Jan. 16, 2026. (Credit: Danny Stipanovich
Freeman quickly renovated his backyard shed into the company’s headquarters.
”Our main focus right now is Southern Oregon and making sure the customers in our very localized community are taken care of,” Freeman said. “Solar as a whole is needed to sustain the grid, to sustain America and the world.”
Parts of this story was reformatted from a broadcast news script.
Danny Stipanovich is a multimedia journalist at NewsWatch 12. You can reach Danny by emailing dstipanovich@kdrv.com.