We are proud to announce that TXSES Executive Director Patrice “Pete” Parsons has been awarded the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) 2026 Leadership in Solar Policy and Market Transformation Award.
The award recognizes extraordinary leadership and innovation in solar policy and market transformation that helps accelerate the widespread adoption of solar and other renewable energy technologies. Learn more about this ASES award and its past winners.
For more than four decades, Pete has been a leading advocate for sustainability, renewable energy, and clean energy technologies across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Today, she leads TXSES in advancing distributed solar and energy access across Texas, working to ensure that more Texans can benefit from local, affordable, and resilient energy.
Throughout her career, Pete has brought people together to turn clean energy goals into action. Her work has included building public-private partnerships to advance economic development and energy independence, collaborating with state and local governments, and helping lay the groundwork for some of Texas’ earliest renewable energy development—including the development of one of the state’s first wind farms.
Before joining TXSES, Pete served as Director of External Relations for ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, Director of the Houston Advanced Research Fuel Cell Center, and held positions with Toyota and the Texas General Land Office.
At the General Land Office, she directed the Alternative Fuels Program and served on a national task force established during the Clinton administration that helped shape the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities Program. She later served as Associate Deputy Land Commissioner, advising on climate change and renewable energy and representing the Commissioner on the U.S. Clean Air Act Advisory Committee.
Pete also served as director of the Texas State Energy Conservation Office (SECO), where she oversaw 33 energy conservation program areas and a $200 million budget. During her tenure, she created the SECO LoanSTAR Revolving Loan Program, which became a model for other states.
“I am honored and humbled to receive this national award,” Pete says. “I would not have been able to move the needle without the collaboration of many of my brilliant colleagues.”
Celebrating Solar Leadership in Austin
ASES announced its 2026 Awards Program recipients on August 26, recognizing outstanding contributions to solar and renewable energy research, policy, design, and community leadership. Read the ASES announcement and see the other 2026 awardees.
“Each year, this program shines a light on the people who are moving solar and renewable energy forward—in the lab, in industry, in policy, and in their communities,” said Carly Rixham, Executive Director of ASES. “This year’s honorees represent the full breadth of what it means to lead in this field.”
Pete and the other honorees will be celebrated at an Awards Luncheon during SOLAR 2026, ASES’s 55th annual national conference, October 19–21 at the Palmer Events Center in Austin. The Awards Luncheon will be on Tuesday, October 20, at 12:00 noon CT, followed by the Fellows Reception at 5:45 PM CT.
The award comes during TXSES’s 50th anniversary year, marking five decades of advancing solar energy and building a stronger clean energy future for Texas.