Pennsylvania solar installer works through cancer diagnosis on the roof
Kayla Reedy could have stopped installing solar when she received a breast cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
“But I wasn’t going to let cancer define me or push me back from the industry that I love,” she said.
Kayla Reedy received a breast cancer diagnosis earlier this year, but it hasn’t prevented her from getting on the roof and installing solar.
Reedy already knew working in this industry requires some tenacity. She and her husband, Zach, had worked at a relative’s solar installation business and decided it was time to start their own — in 2020. With the newly minted Elysium Solar Energy (No. 381 on the 2024 Top Solar Contractors List), a residential and commercial PV contractor based in McDonald, Pennsylvania, the couple endured the economic hardships of the pandemic.
For the last four years, Elysium has installed solar in the greater Pittsburgh area and the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, two regions known for coal production, not solar. Kayla said she originally intended to become a state highway patrol officer or work with the FBI but opted for a quainter job in solar installation, a career she said was better suited for starting a family.
Kayla found the mass in her breast while playing with her daughters, aged one and three. She went in for a biopsy and a week later received her diagnosis.
“Any time you hear cancer, you think death. But I have yet to cry. I’m just dealing with it with the best positive outlook that I can. My children don’t know, and I’m taking it as a positive journey to help other women.” she said. “I feel like that’s why I’m going through it. It’s a bump in the road, and I can only get stronger and grow from this point on.”
Kayla handles a lot of the administrative tasks at Elysium, like billing, permitting and interconnection, and also installs projects. She hasn’t stopped getting on the roof since starting chemo treatments in January and said she has thankfully not been sick from the drugs to do the job.
Elysium Solar Energy co-founder Kayla Reedy received several months of chemo treatment and managed to run the business throughout.
“I was very tired, lethargic, but I just battled through it as much as I could,” she said. “Yes, some things got put on the backburner that weren’t top priority, but I fought through it. I pretty much continued to do my day-to-day tasks, just a little bit slower, but I still got everything done that needed done.”
Throughout several months of chemo, Kayla wore cold caps, which are skin-tight helmets that pump cooled liquids around the surface of the scalp, to prevent her hair loss and maintain her image of health. The chemo treatments ended in May, and the cancer didn’t recede, so Reedy underwent a double mastectomy in June. The operation is followed by a period of radiation treatment, and for the next year she will likely have regular injections of estrogen blockers to prevent the cancer from returning.
During her recovery, Reedy has been marketing Elysium’s solar services and the financial incentives available to homeowners, businesses and nonprofits interested in solar. The residential market in the region has taken a hit, so work has slowed, she said. Net metering might be axed in West Virginia starting in 2025, and Elysium is busy trying to complete projects in the state before year’s end so they’re eligible for current compensation rates.
Business carries on, and in tandem Kayla’s treatment continues. When asked about the origin of the business’ name, she said that for she and Zach, Elysium meant moving from a period of darkness into light. Kayla won’t let cancer prevent her from building a business and a legacy for her family. She means to be an advocate for surviving.
“You get one shot at life, and if you dwell on any challenges that are presented, then you’re not living your life to the fullest. I would say, my family, my kids, especially [drive me], because I want them to take over the company when they are older,” Reedy said. “They’re going to be getting up on the roof, I could tell you that.
“And to just be a mentor for other women — because we don’t have enough women in our industry — to get more involved and set that standard for them,” she continued. “It’s a manly industry, but women can do it just as good as they can, if not better.”
This story was featured exclusively in our 2024 Top Solar Contractors issue. See the issue and full list of top U.S. solar installers here.