Who we are
Helio Solar & Energy Solutions is a family contracting business in Trumbull, CT, working in the trade our family has worked in for generations. The company took the Helio name in 2020. The work is older than that.
Most of the solar sold in this region is sold by people who will never see the house again. We live here, our crews live here, and the number on the contract is a number that still picks up in year eight.
Why we work this way
There is a legacy before us of hard-working builders, craftsmen and artists. That legacy is the heart of Helio: relentless integrity in business, and transparency in practice.
In practice that means a few unglamorous things. We put the cash price next to the financed price. We tell you which incentives you can actually claim and which ones we are not counting on. We publish the charges that reduce your savings, not only the ones that improve them. And we do not knock on doors.
— The Tilford family, Trumbull
Design
A system that was drawn from a satellite photo and a package price is the single most common thing we are asked to fix. Four things we do instead.
Pitch, orientation, shading, obstructions and the condition of the deck set what is possible before any equipment is chosen. A design that starts from a package and works backwards is a design that will disappoint someone.
We size around how you actually use power across a year. Overbuilding sells well and pays back badly, and in a state with an export tariff it can be actively worse than a smaller array.
The service panel is the constraint hiding behind most quotes that quietly exclude a heat pump or a charger. We look at all of it up front so the second phase is not a surprise invoice.
Some roofs are wrong for solar, and some houses need a roof or an electrical service before anything goes on them. We would rather tell you that early than sell you a system that underperforms for twenty-five years.
Certification
NABCEP is the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners, the closest thing this industry has to a professional standard. Its board certifications are earned by individuals — you cannot buy one for a company — which is exactly why they are worth asking about by name.
PVIP
NABCEP's senior installation credential, and the one the industry treats as the benchmark. Held by people on our install side — the ones actually on your roof.
PVTS
The certification for the person who looks at your house and writes the proposal. Worth knowing that a commission-only door-knocker almost never holds it, because nothing about their job requires it.
Ask any company you talk to which certifications the person in your kitchen holds, and whether the person who designed the system is the person who will install it. The answers are more useful than the brochure.
Who writes the education center
NABCEP certified, and Helio Solar’s chief executive. The pages in the education center are written and checked by him — including the ones that tell you what to ask us, and the calculator that works just as well on a competitor’s quote. If something in there is wrong, it is his to fix.
Solar, battery storage, and electrical in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland. Roofing in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey. Heat pumps in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
We would rather tell you no early than waste your afternoon, so the estimator checks your zip against that list before it offers you a visit.
Headquarters is 55 Merritt Blvd, Trumbull, CT 06611 — a real address, not a mail drop, and the crews dispatch from it.
All of these are public record. Look them up on the state register before you let anyone on your roof — and ask whoever else is quoting you for theirs.
