Experts discuss “Texas’ solar summer”

Environment Texas organized a webinar on July 25 to discuss the recent unprecedented growth in solar energy. Between 2017 and 2022, rooftop solar in Texas has increased 646%, while solar as a whole has increased from under 1% of the ERCOT fuel mix in 2017 to more than 10% in 2024. This article recaps key points made by the expert panel during the webinar. You can watch a recording of the webinar at the link below.

To start the presentation, Ian Seamans, Dallas City Hall Advocate for Environment Texas, gave an overview of the environmental benefits of solar energy. He highlighted that solar not only prevents greenhouse gas emissions and smog, it also doesn’t use water, it is highly recyclable, and rooftop solar doesn’t require additional land-use.

Seamans outlined seven recommendations for cities and the state to keep the Texas solar boom going. He said that cities have three low-hanging fruit: free same-day automated permitting using SolarAPP+, promoting solar installation bundling with services like Texas Solar Switch, and promoting IRA solar incentives to residents. All of which are free or low-cost for cities to implement. He also said that cities with municipal utilities should consider the full Value of Solar when determining the rate at which solar energy can be sold back to the grid, and net-metering should be provided, at a minimum.

Seamans’ three recommendations for the state are to increase transmission capacity in key areas to prevent generation transmission constraints and to fully implement virtual power plants statewide, but to above all do no harm, and not introduce unfair fees, restrictions, or bans.

Texas State Senator Nathan Johnson, the author of the Texas Power Promise legislation and the 2023 bill that kickstarted a Texas virtual power plant pilot, discussed the past and future of solar at the Texas Legislature. He said that the rapid growth of solar energy is the only way that Texas will be able to accommodate the more than 150GW of projected growth over the next ten years. He predicted that although renewables have been under attack in the legislature over the past two sessions, that the majority of legislators would recognize its value, especially in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, and not impose unfair limitations on it.

In reference to the recommendations made by Environment Texas, the Senator said, “When we finally get all of this stuff put together… We are going to have a fantastic energy infrastructure in this state, but it will not happen if old biases prevail and block the progress that we have made on the renewable front.”

Micalah Spenrath, the Manager of Policy and Energy at the Houston Advanced Research Center spoke about her organization’s collaboration on the Texas Solar For All Coalition grant. This $249.7 million grant was awarded by the EPA to increase access to solar for individuals with low income or who live in federally designated disadvantaged communities in Texas.

Spenrath outlined Texas Solar for All Coalition’s goals: closing the solar equity gap, delivering resilient and affordable energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, developing a green jobs workforce, and creating community wealth. She said that the program will include rooftop solar on single-family and multi-family, community solar, and hybrid projects, like solar for community hubs.

“Being a Houston-based organization, we see first-hand the value of resilience and we believe that DER’s (distributed energy resources), microgrids, and solar solutions will be a core component of not only resilience, but reliability moving forward.”

The Executive Director of the Texas Solar Power Association, Mark Stover, gave an update on the status of solar energy in Texas and how he thinks the industry will evolve over the next several years. 

Stover shared that solar energy in Texas has had exponential growth over the last five years, with the average age of utility scale solar installations at 18 months, and more solar in the ERCOT development queue than any other form of energy, at 152GW. Stover highlighted that on July 16, Texas broke another record for solar production at more than 20,000 MW, and that he expects solar to continue consistently breaking records for the foreseeable future.

Stover explained that solar is the fastest type of energy generating power plant to build, which will be of critical importance as ERCOT projects dramatically increased energy loads over the next ten years. Additionally, he stated that utility-scale solar provides multi-generational income to landowners that host the projects, and it provides tax revenue that benefits local cities and school districts.

Speaking of resilience, Stover said, “When you deploy residential and commercial [rooftop] systems, you’re helping families and businesses keep the lights on during extreme weather events and grid outages. We saw it with Hurricane Beryl.”

Dr. Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, presented data that showed how quickly solar is growing across the state, while saving consumers money and reducing the environmental cost of electricity generation.

He noted that while it took wind seven years to go from 2% of the ERCOT mix in 2006 to 10% in 2013, solar has made the same percentage jump in only four years. He compared the peak demand of June this year to last year, and showed that renewable energy has gone from 27% of the mix, to 36%, largely due to the growth of solar energy.

Rhodes called attention to the fact that since 2010, Texas renewable energy has reduced energy and environmental costs by more than $51 billion and reduced water use in the state by more than 8 trillion gallons. He also stated that from 2018-2022, renewable energy has saved ratepayers an estimated $200 per year on their electricity bills.

After the panelists’ presentations, they engaged in an audience Q&A session where the speakers gave more information about their expectations for the upcoming session, what legislation (or lack thereof) they would like to see, and how solar will expand through the Solar For All program and other initiatives over the next several years.