New report throws shade on Houston's renewable energy use in 'solar cities' ranking

(Not so) sunny news

Sunny Houston fails to place on Thumbtack's new list. Photo by Adrian N on Unsplash

As the cost of solar panel installation becomes more attainable to homeowners, more Americans are willing to reduce their carbon emissions and their electricity bills in the process.

So just where does Houston rank in new tech like solar panel installation? According to a new report from home service management platform Thumbtack, it doesn't.

Houston, which has no shortage of sun — as residents are well aware — fails to place in Thumbtack's new list of the top 15 most "solar" cities in the United States.

Austin leads the way for Texas, ranking the No. 3 most “solar” city in the U.S., per Thumbtack. Austin, with the highest net-new solar panel installations within the past year in Texas, splits up four Californian cities in the top five. Only San Diego (No. 1) and Los Angeles (No. 2) outranked Austin.

San Antonio follows not behind atNo. 9 and just outside the top 10 is Dallas-Fort Worth at No. 11.

For the curious, Texas Property Code 202.010 forbids homeowner associations from restricting the installation of solar panels, so any Texas homeowner can do it as long as they follow the standard procedure for “improving” their home to comply with a separate state law.

Thumbtack home expert David Steckel said in a press release that they chose to focus the report on cities with the most new solar installations because they wanted to “celebrate those [cities] making the biggest change.”

“When we looked at all solar projects – from installations to modifications, repairs, consultations and more – we found that unsurprisingly, California dominated the list with 9 out of the top 10 spots – given their long-term commitment to and adoption of solar energy," he said. "We really wanted to celebrate cities that are seeing a shift in behavior.”

The top 10 most “solar” cities in the U.S. are:

  • No. 1 – San Diego
  • No. 2 – Los Angeles
  • No. 3 – Austin
  • No. 4 – Palm Springs, California
  • No. 5 – San Francisco
  • No. 6 – Las Vegas
  • No. 7 – Phoenix
  • No. 8 – Orlando
  • No. 9 – San Antonio
  • No. 10 – Tampa, Florida

Steckel said the company has seen a year-over-year increase of up to 96 percent in solar energy projects among consumers for March 2023.

“We recently found that 71 percent of Americans are prioritizing sustainable, energy-efficient home improvement projects this year – with more than one-third of Americans planning to install solar panels in 2023 – showing an accelerating change in consumer behavior,” he said.

------

This article originally ran on CultureMap.

From Your Site Articles
Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Intuitive Machines blasts into next phase and more innovation news to know

Trending Topics

Editor's note: We're looking back at the top Houston innovation and business news for the first half of August 2025. Intuitive Machines has secured a new contract, a Japanese energy tech manufacturer now has a Houston HQ, tech jobs are on the rise, and more. Revisit InnovationMap's most-read stories from August 1-15 below:

1. Intuitive Machines lands $9.8M to complete orbital transfer vehicle

Intuitive Machines to acquire NASA-certified deep space navigation company

Intuitive Machines' orbital transfer vehicle project is entering its next phase. Photo via Getty Images.

Houston-based Intuitive Machines, which rang the NASDAQ opening bell July 31, has secured a $9.8 million Phase Two government contract for its orbital transfer vehicle. The contract will push the project through its Critical Design Review phase, which is the final engineering milestone before manufacturing can begin. Continue reading.

2. Japanese energy tech manufacturer moves U.S. headquarters to Houston

TMEIC Corporation Americas has moved its U.S. headquarters to Houston. Photo via tmeic.com

TMEIC Corporation Americas has officially relocated its headquarters from Roanoke, Virginia, to Houston. TMEIC Corporation Americas, a group company of Japan-based TMEIC Corporation Japan, recently inaugurated its new space in the Energy Corridor. The new HQ occupies the 10th floor at 1080 Eldridge Parkway, according to ConnectCRE. The company first announced the move last summer. Continue reading.

3. 11 can't-miss Houston business and innovation events for August

From insightful talks to a young professionals summit, here's what not to miss and how to register. Photo via Getty Images

The tech event scene is heating up in August. From insightful talks to a young professionals summit, we've rounded up the events not to miss and how to register. Continue reading.

4. Houston tech jobs to grow in 2025 as Texas leads U.S. in new tech employment

The Houston area is expected to employ 158,176 tech professionals this year, according to a new report by CompTIA. Photo via Getty Images.

Tech employment in the Houston metro area is expected to climb by more than two percent this year, according to a new projection. CompTIA’s State of the Tech Workforce 2025 report forecasts the Houston area will employ 158,176 tech professionals this year, compared with an estimated 154,905 last year. That would be an increase of 2.1 percent. Continue reading.

5. U.S. News ranks Houston hospital No. 1 in Texas for 14th year in a row

Houston Methodist is once again the top hospital in Texas. Photo via Houston Methodist

U.S. News & World Report has released its 2025 rankings of the best hospitals in Texas, and they prove that Houston is in good hands. The esteemed Houston Methodist Hospital was rated the No. 1 best hospital in Texas for the 14th consecutive year, and the No. 1 hospital in the metro area. Eleven more Houston-area hospitals earned spots among the statewide top 35. Continue reading.

MD Anderson launches $10M collaboration to advance personalized cancer treatment tech

fighting cancer

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Japan’s TOPPAN Holdings Inc. have announced a strategic collaboration to co-develop TOPPAN Holdings’ 3D cell culture, or organoid, technology known as invivoid.

The technology will be used as a tool for personalized cancer treatments and drug screening efforts, according to a release from MD Anderson. TOPPAN has committed $10 million over five years to advance the joint research activities.

“The strategic alliance with MD Anderson paves a promising path toward personalized cancer medicine," Hiroshi Asada, head of the Business Innovation Center at TOPPAN Holdings, said in a news release.

Invivoid is capable of establishing organoid models directly from patient biopsies or other tissues in a way that is faster and more efficient. Researchers may be able to test a variety of potential treatments in the laboratory to understand which approach may work best for the patient, if validated clinically.

“Organoids allow us to model the three-dimensional complexity of human cancers in the lab, thus allowing us to engineer a powerful translational engine—one that could not only predict how patients will respond to therapy before treatment begins but also could help to reimagine how we discover and validate next-generation therapies," Dr. Donna Hansel, division head of pathology and laboratory medicine at MD Anderson, added in the news release. “Through this collaboration, we hope to make meaningful progress in modeling cancer biology for therapeutic innovation.”

The collaboration will build upon preclinical research previously conducted by MD Anderson and TOPPAN. The organizations will work collaboratively to obtain College of American Pathologists (CAP) and Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certifications for the technology, which demonstrate a commitment to high-quality patient care. Once the certifications are obtained, they plan to conduct observational clinical studies and then prospective clinical studies.

“We believe our proprietary invivoid 3D cell culture technology, by enabling the rapid establishment of organoid models directly from patient biopsies, has strong potential to help identify more effective treatment options and reduce the likelihood of unnecessary therapies,” Asada added in the release. “Through collaboration on CAP/CLIA certification and clinical validation, we aim to bring this innovation closer to real-world patient care and contribute meaningfully to the advancement of cancer medicine."

NASA taps Houston-area company to explore low-cost spacecraft delivery

Webster-based Arrow Science and Technology is one of six companies picked by NASA to study low-cost ways to launch and deliver spacecraft for difficult-to-reach orbits.

In all, nine studies will be performed under a roughly $1.4 million award from NASA. Another Texas company, Cedar Park-based Firefly Aerospace, is also among the six companies working on the studies.

“With the increasing maturity of commercial space delivery capabilities, we’re asking companies to demonstrate how they can meet NASA’s need for multispacecraft and multiorbit delivery to difficult-to-reach orbits beyond current launch service offerings,” Joe Dant, a leader of the Launch Services Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, said in a news release. “This will increase unique science capability and lower the agency’s overall mission costs.”

Arrow is teaming up with Rockville, Maryland-based Quantum Space for its study. Quantum’s Ranger orbital transfer vehicle provides payload delivery services for spacecraft heading to low-Earth and lunar orbits.

Arrow, a Native American-owned small business, offers technical support and hardware manufacturing services for the space and defense industries.

James Baker, founder and president of Arrow, said in a news release that the combination of his company’s deployment systems with Quantum’s Ranger vehicle “allows our customers the ability to focus on the development of their payload[s] while we take care of getting them where they need to be.”

“This is an exciting opportunity to demonstrate the unique capabilities of our highly maneuverable Ranger spacecraft, which will expand NASA’s options for reaching dynamic and challenging … orbits,” Kerry Wisnosky, CEO of Quantum Space, added in the release.

The nine studies are scheduled to be completed by mid-September.

NASA said it will use the studies’ findings “to inform mission design, planning, and commercial launch acquisition strategies for risk-tolerant payloads, with a possibility of expanding delivery services to larger-sized payloads and to less risk-tolerant missions in the future.”

View All Listings