This story is part of Austin Business Journal’s coverage of the 2024 Best CEO Awards.
By Bob Sechler – Assistant Managing Editor, Austin Business Journal
Bret Biggart’s trajectory in the solar power industry has gone from simply trying to get a price quote for installation of solar panels at his own home to leading Austin-based Freedom Solar Power, one of the largest solar installation companies in the United States.
It began when Biggart, who worked in corporate finance but dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur, never received a return call from the various installation firms he telephoned back in 2011, leading to his “aha” moment -– there was a niche for a solar company committed to customer service.
He subsequently teamed with Adrian Buck, who had founded Freedom Solar in 2007, handling the business side of things while Buck dealt with installation. Today, Freedom Solar has about 450 employees, including 100 in Austin, and has commercial operations nationwide and residential operations in Texas, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.
With Biggart at the helm as CEO, Freedom Solar has become the largest solar company in Texas and the 10th largest in the United States. It also has received numerous awards for innovation, business growth and environmental responsibility, including multiple SunPower Top Producer of the Year awards, and it also has been included multiple times on the ABJ’s Fast 50 list recognizing the fastest-growing companies in Central Texas.
Biggart is known as a CEO who operates with complete candor, cultivates meaningful relationships and puts people first. He also considers “smart risk-taking” to be the only way to grow, saying the best advice he has ever received is to get outside of your comfort zone.
Among his recent efforts, he led the company’s initiative last year to expand its product portfolio to include panels at lower price points “to meet customers where they were from a budget standpoint.” The aim of the effort was to provide more options to enable more people to go solar — in keeping with Freedom Solar’s goal of empowering all Texans to get clean, affordable and reliable energy from the sun.
The company, under Biggart’s leadership, also has shown a commitment to the community, supporting various nonprofits such as Community First Village, Green Careers Dallas and Austin’s Trail Foundation.