Thinking Bigger: Roshelle & Wes Checkeye, Evoke Solar

When the world is moving fast, it’s quietly radical to think about the long term. To make smart investments. To work diligently with excellence and integrity. To build trust and genuine relationships. Those are the guiding principles of Evoke Solar, the Lehigh Valley’s most established designer and installer of solar electricity systems for homes and small commercial projects.

Since 2013, Evoke has grown steadily from a one-man show, to a husband-and-wife team run by Wes and Roshelle Checkeye out of their Hellertown home, to a growing family of a dozen employees. Wes first began working for Heat Shed—Evoke’s predecessor company—in high school, holding numerous roles in the company through college and beyond. When Heat Shed’s owner, Charlie Reichner, retired, another company purchased the business and it fell into bankruptcy soon after. Wes was compelled to act. It was a risk, but confident in the tremendous value of solar energy, he picked up the pieces—and founded Evoke Solar.

Wes and Roshelle love the Lehigh Valley, and since Evoke’s founding, they’ve been thrilled to watch interest in solar energy here grow exponentially. Their proximity to New Jersey, combined with the state’s renewable energy incentives, has brought them many clients over the state border, as well. “The benefits of solar have a ripple effect,” they say. Making renewable energy affordable and accessible helps homeowners and businesses save money and act meaningfully for the environment, which has a positive impact on the community at large.

Clean, renewable energy helps sustain us all, and this truth is reflected in the respect with which Evoke runs their business. Going solar is a powerful experience, say Wes and Roshelle—for client, community, and for the team at Evoke. “The mutual respect and spirit of collaboration we experience as we work unites us.”