Our Vision: to educate and inspire every Texan to adopt solar energy as part of an equitable 100% clean energy future

Solar News of Note

UPDATE: WE MET OUR $5K MATCH!! Because of your generosity, we not only met our match we exceeded it! We’re working harder than ever to be the voice that you have come to depend on, educating Texas communities like yours about the benefits of solar energy, separating fact from fiction, and empowering all of us to exert pressure on our local representatives to act in our collective best interests. We couldn’t do it without you. Heartfelt thanks for your confidence and support 🙏🏻

Calling all state of Texas and City of Austin and Houston employees!! As a member charity of Earth Share of Texas, TXSES benefits when you designate payroll deductions. Your contribution to TXSES enables us to educate and inspire every Texan to enjoy the benefits of solar as part of a 100% equitable, inclusive clean energy Texas. Visit Earth Share of Texas today! And thanks so very much for your support 👍🏻

Earlier this summer, the Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) enacted a series of punitive and regressive distributed solar policies. With PEC’s nearly 350,000 accounts in 24 counties across 8,100 square miles in the Texas Hill Country and serving more meters than any other U.S. electric cooperative, these anti-solar policies could have a disturbingly negative effect for distributed solar in the other 76 Texas rural electric cooperatives that serve more than three million Texans. TXSES, in collaboration with Public Citizen, Clean Water Action, Sierra Club, Solar United Neighbors and Jolt, is making a difference in reversing these anti-solar policies. More

DYK there’s a Clean Energy Credit Union? This federally charted, tax-exempt 501(c)(1) is the only credit union focused solely on clean energy lending and environmental stewardship. If you’re a TXSES member, you’re eligible to join the credit union…, yet another reason to join TXSES! 😎 Learn more.

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TXSES Impact

The September issue of the Solar Reflector is out! Here’s a peek:

• Chair’s Corner: Forging Smart Distributed Solar Policies in Texas: Our Work Continues. There is a train wreck coming for behind-the-meter distributed solar and it’s our responsibility to fix it. Even after the positive outcome from the recent solar policy debate with the Pedernales Electric Cooperative, we are entering yet another phase of tough policy whack-a-mole. This round will be harder to resolve for the benefit of solar owners because it’s against the status quo.
• Addressing Energy Poverty with Solar Energy Access to clean and affordable energy is an essential part of modern life. Cooking, cleaning, doing homework at night, running the air conditioning in the hot Texas summers, and much more all necessitate reliable energy access. Yet, for many families, these essentials transform into luxuries because they experience what experts refer to as energy poverty or the lack of access to energy services due to high prices or insufficient supply.
• Feature Industry Conversation: Jim White, The PowerStore. Since 2010, The PowerStore in Alvarado, Texas and recently in Mooresville, North Carolina, has supplied solar power and storage solutions to customers in the U.S., Central America and the Caribbean Islands. A Tier 1 authorized distributor for many of the world’s leading solar panel manufacturers, we caught up with Jim White, founder and CEO, to learn more about The PowerStore. These up-close and personal industry conversations are one of the benefits of a TXSES Platinum Business membership.
• Guest blog: Solar United Neighbors’ Big Vision for Texas. Dori Wolfe, Houston Area SUN Co-op Coordinator, says there’s never been a better time for solar in Texas. Wolfe is proud to be part of an organization that’s making this happen by helping Texans join forces to go solar and fight for their energy rights.
• Commentary: Modern Modeling Provides Better Insights into Solar, Storage and the Role of Distributed Energy Resources. Good friend and colleague, Karl Rábago, tells us about a new utility planning model called WIS:dom-P (“Weather-Informed energy Systems: for design, operations and markets”) to break through the limits of old-style utility models and, for the first time, understand the role that solar + storage distributed resources can play in decarbonizing our economy in an affordable and sustainable way.

Photo: PEC

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Photo: PEC

Upcoming Solar Events in Texas

The Texas Solar Energy Society is a member of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), the nation’s leading association of solar professionals and advocates. ASES is a catalyst and a valuable resource in the emergence and re-evolution of America’s new energy economy, in a way that deeply values the role of all stakeholders in a collaborative and transparent co-creative process. They have been shining a light on the solution since 1954. Become a member and receive Solar Today Magazine. Take a tour!

Since 1991, Austin Energy® Green Building (AEGB) has cultivated innovation in building and transportation for the enrichment of the community’s environmental, economic and human well-being by providing green building ratings, consulting services, code advancement, education and professional development.

Since 1992, EarthShare of Texas has raised funds on behalf of more than 40 nonprofits close to your heart like TXSES because they care about Texas’ health, economy, natural spaces and wildlife. Learn more.

Want to help your local environmental or conservation project? Sign up for  Reliant Energy’s EcoShare program and a small monthly charge will be added to your electricity bill. Part of that charge will go to EarthShare of Texas, and a portion will go toward purchasing carbon offsets.