Gov. Deval Patrick emphasized the need to make legislation ‘personal’ during his annual State of the Commonwealth address Thursday night.

‘Confronting challenges and making it personal are the only ways to build a better and stronger commonwealth,’ he said.

Patrick addressed a joint session of the Massachusetts legislature in the wake of Senator-elect Scott Brown’s special election victory Tuesday. The governor took time at the beginning of his speech to note the significance of the Republican win.

‘At a time when many feel powerless, people reminded themselves and us that they have all the power they need to make all the change they want,’ Patrick said. ‘That’s good news.’

Patrick spoke about reforms in education, health care, job creation and renewable resources such as wind and solar power.

On health care reform, Patrick said he was committed to providing coverage for legal immigrants and called for Congress to follow the lead of the Bay State’s system.

‘We did the hard work of implementing health care reform and we are a model for the nation,’ he said.

He promised to increase the use of renewable resources throughout Boston in an effort to attract investments and increase jobs.

‘We will increase wind power ten-fold and solar power fifteen-fold by next year,’ he said. ‘We are investing in clean energy and biotech infrastructure to put people in jobs today and become the economic enabler of tomorrow.’

The governor’s comments on education were accompanied by stories of his personal experiences at the state’s public schools. He said he plans to augment education funding and make good public schools more accessible.

‘We plan on fully funding the education budget from last year’s Chapter 70 legislation [providing state aid to public elementary and secondary schools] so that no school will be lacking support,’ Patrick said. ‘We will put a good school in reach of every child in the state.’

The state government’s ultimate success in the upcoming months, he said, depends on creating jobs, making health care more accessible and improving transportation.

‘I will not be satisfied until we have put all our people back to work, I will not be satisfied until the cost of health insurance is lower, especially for small businesses, I will not be satisfied until we start getting as smart on crime as we are tough. . . and I will not be satisfied until we find a way to bring property taxes down,’ he said.

Patrick encouraged the people of Massachusetts to work for reform in a nod to what many have said spurred Brown’s upset election.

‘Be angry,’ he said. ‘But channel it in a positive direction.’