About the author
Taylor Crouse
Founder, Helios Energy Global — the reviewer of record on every system design and every guide published on this site.
Taylor founded Helios Energy Global in 2018 in Santa Monica with a simple position: solar quotes in Southern California should read like engineering documents, not sales scripts. A mechanical engineer by training, he has overseen 1,000+ installations — more than 8 megawatts of residential solar — across 94+ SoCal cities, on every roof type from beach-city composition shingle to hillside clay tile — and still personally signs off on every design before equipment is ordered. Helios holds CSLB C-10 Electrical license #982201 and is a Tesla Certified Installer.
That same review standard applies to what we publish. Every guide, answer page, and data table on this site — including the SoCal Solar Index — carries Taylor's byline because he is accountable for its accuracy: the utility rules by city, the honest post-2025 incentive picture, and price ranges that match what quotes actually say. If something on this site is out of date, tell us and it gets fixed.
Mechanical engineer
Design-first approach: load calcs, mounting detail, and watertight flashing over sales volume.
1,000+ SoCal installs
Across 94+ cities and five utility territories — SCE, LADWP, PWP, RPU, and APU.
Owner-reviewed, always
Every design and every published guide is personally reviewed before it ships.