Castillo Engineering Accelerates Utility-Scale Market Expansion via Strategic $2.5 Million Investment

Castillo Engineering, a leading national solar and energy storage engineering firm, has invested $2.5 million in project and process management tools and has expanded its senior leadership team to better meet growing demand in the utility-scale solar market across the entire project lifecycle.

Castillo is strengthening its executive leadership to support rapid growth and evolving industry needs. The company has appointed Gary Joseph as Vice President of Sales & Marketing and Arun Ramadass as Vice President of Operations. Additionally, the firm’s founder Rick Castillo has transitioned into the role of Chief Operating Officer, where he now leads a newly enhanced Project Management Office (PMO).

Under Rick’s leadership, the PMO gains strategic guidance and daily mentorship, complemented by the launch of PMO 360, a client-facing project management platform designed to enhance visibility and efficiency. Its intuitive dashboard provides clients with greater ease of communication and complete visibility into engineering information, timelines, and plans. PMO 360 also equips project managers (PMs) with the data and insights they need to make informed decisions, improve timelines, control budgets, and boost client satisfaction. Castillo’s Project Management Institute (PMI)-certified PMs align their strategies with PMI’s gold standard to help clients minimize risk, optimize budgets, and stay on schedule throughout a project.

To further support internal engineering teams, Castillo Engineering has also launched a proprietary design tool: Design IQ. Developed in collaboration with a global software provider, Design IQ automates the real-time collection of calculations and design assets from multiple sources, making them available in a single interface for the Castillo team. This automation of engineering calculations and AutoCAD drafting enables Castillo engineers to reduce human error, standardize workflows, and increase scalability, allowing the company to deliver projects faster with superior quality.

“In our discussions with utility-scale EPCs, almost every leader expressed an urgent, unmet need for an Engineer of Record that can offer excellent project management and unwavering quality at the utility scale as the market grows,” commented Christopher Castillo, CEO. “Our response is a bold investment in talent, tools, and technology that ensures our ‘A Team’ is ready to support EPCs as their pipelines expand – without sacrificing quality.”

356 GWdc of utility-scale solar is expected to come online by 2035, fueled by surging energy demand from AI applications and data centers.

Profiles of Castillo Engineering’s Strengthened Senior Leadership Team

Rick Castillo, PE, SE, Chief Operating Officer

As the founder of Castillo Engineering, Rick has cultivated Castillo Engineering’s company culture and prowess in project and process management from day one. In his current role,he has honed his focus on leading Castillo’s Project Management Office (PMO), which has set the industry standard for power engineering project management. Most recently, he developed and launched PMO 360, a proprietary dashboard that provides EPCs and owners with the clarity needed for informed decision-making.

Gary Joseph, Vice President of Sales & Marketing

With 14 years of leadership experience in the utility-scale solar industry, most recently as Vice President of Sales at Voltage LLC, Gary brings a unique perspective that bridges deep technical knowledge with global commercial experience. Born in England, Gary began his career as a licensed electrician and became a seasoned sales leader working with EPCs, developers, and manufacturers for distributed generation and utility-scale projects in domestic and international markets.

Arun Ramadass, Vice President of Operations

Arun brings over 15 years of diverse solar industry experience, including leadership roles at Primoris, Pivot Energy and Scale Microgrids. Focused on engineering utility-scale projects, strategic growth, and technical excellence, he has been instrumental in delivering innovative renewable energy solutions by guiding teams through complex challenges and scaling processes for large-scale operations.

Through this strategic investment, Castillo Engineering aims to further empower utility-scale projects with innovative, customized, and process-driven engineering solutions across the entire project lifecycle – enhancing communication, shortening timelines and optimizing costs to deliver tomorrow’s energy with efficiency and ease.

Castillo Engineering | castillope.com