Harris County Precinct 2 works toward growth of solar energy presence

For Garcia, this means making sure that once solar energy becomes more popular, there will be jobs for the industry in Precinct 2.

“I want the jobs, skill sets, education, marketing and infrastructure all in place,” he said.

The Houston area is becoming a more popular area for solar energy, said Hanna Mitchell, Texas program director at Solar United Neighbors, a nonprofit that works to help interested residents in the same geographical region form a solar co-op, which brings down the cost of installing solar in their homes.

The nonprofit was founded in 2011 and came to Texas in 2018. Since then, Houston has been the most popular market for using solar energy, Mitchell said.

One SUN co-op of roughly 30 households was created in September in the Pasadena, La Porte and League City area.

Garcia is also considering having solar power his home, he said.

“When people see it on their neighbor’s roof and they see it more normalized, we see more people thinking of getting solar themselves,” Mitchell said.

As solar energy is becoming more popular, it is also becoming more cost-efficient for residents, Mitchell said.

Houston is considered the energy capital of the world, Garcia and Mitchell said, but they argued the city's history in oil, fossil fuels and petroleum does not have to be at odds with solar energy.

“Houston prides itself on being the energy capital of the world, and I think that it can be an all-of-the-above energy capital of the world,” Mitchell said.