Solar Plus Batteries Save the Texas Grid. Again.
By Dr. Ariane Beck, TXSES Board Chair & Research Fellow in Energy Systems Transformation at University of Texas at Austin This summer, warnings of a potential grid outage have been noticeably absent. There has been no fretting or hand wringing. When a significant amount coal capacity unexpectedly went offline, solar, wind and storage stepped up […]
Industry Spotlight: Mission Solar
In each Solar Report newsletter, we feature one of our highly regarded Platinum Business Members with an exclusive interview. This month, TXSES Communications Director Tamara Kowalski reached out to Mission Solar President Sam Martens to learn about the company’s mission, accomplishments, and impacts on customers. Origins and Leadership Mission Solar was founded in San Antonio over a decade ago to bring […]
The ‘big, beautiful bill’ undercut rural energy projects. Texas must step up. (Op-Ed)
Rural communities didn’t get into renewables for politics. They did it because it worked. They need stability, not sudden rollbacks. By Raina Tillman Hornaday, TXSES Board MemberAustin American-Statesman Guest ColumnistAug 8, 2025Read it in the Austin American-Statesman. The recently passed “big, beautiful bill” was marketed as a cost-cutting win. While that may be true for some […]
Sine Die Approaches: A Mixed Bag for Solar
By Pete Parsons, TXSES Executive Director. Sine die is fast approaching, marking the close of the 89th Texas Legislative Session on June 2nd, and as far as I am concerned, it can’t come soon enough. I recently heard a statistic that I found gob smacking: Texas’s predicted peak power demand of nearly 218 gigawatts by […]
SB 819: A Threat to Renewables and Texans
By Elle Nicholson. A multitude of energy-related bills have been filed in the 89th Texas Legislative Session, but one particular bill has gained notoriety rarely seen amongst energy bills. Senator Lois Kolkhorst’s Senate Bill 819 has triggered significant backlash from a variety of opponents due to the widespread negative consequences it would have for the […]
Harvesting the Sun Twice: Agrivoltaics in Texas
By Raina Hornaday. Agrivoltaics—the practice of using land for both solar energy generation and agricultural production—is gaining momentum in Texas as a win-win strategy for sustainable development. As the Lone Star State grapples with rapid population growth, rising energy demand, and the ongoing loss of farmland, agrivoltaics presents a compelling vision: why choose between solar […]
Industry Spotlight: Big Sun Solar
In each Solar Report newsletter, we feature one of our highly regarded Platinum Business Members with an exclusive interview. This month, TXSES Communications Director Tamara Kowalski reached out to Big Sun Solar‘s Co-founder and President Jason Pittman to learn about the company’s mission, accomplishments, and impacts on customers. Origins and Leadership Big Sun Solar was founded in San Antonio with […]
Renewables in the 89th Texas Legislative Session – Presentation
TXSES intern Elle Nicholson gave a virtual presentation to TXSES local chapter North Texas Renewable Energy Group (NTREG) about “Renewables in the 89th Texas Legislative Session,” during their April 2025 monthly meeting. Her overview of legislation currently winding its way through the Texas legislature provided insight into several pieces of legislation and their potential affects on […]
Solar Industry Unites to Boost Consumer Protection in Texas
By Patrice “Pete” Parsons, TXSES Executive Director We have had articles on this topic in the past, but with all the recent press, I feel compelled to address the issue of consumer protection again. Solar in Texas has seen explosive growth in the last few years, and Texas Solar Energy Society recognizes that while there […]
Small But Mighty: Small-Scale Battery Storage Saves the Day
By Elle Nicholson Battery energy storage systems, commonly referred to as BESS, have quickly become an invaluable tool in the energy industry, for both utilities and small-scale applications alike. The systems work by drawing energy from the grid (or a localized power source), storing the charge, and later releasing it to provide electricity or other […]