I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3041 

To require the Secretary of Energy to provide loans and grants for solar 

installations in low-income and underserved areas. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 13, 2015 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS (for himself, Ms. LEE, and Mr. ELLISON) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to provide loans and 

grants for solar installations in low-income and underserved areas. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Low-Income Solar 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LOAN AND GRANT PROGRAM FOR SOLAR INSTALLA7 TIONS IN LOW-INCOME AND UNDERSERVED 

8 AREAS. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—The term 

2 ‘‘administrative expenses’’ has such meaning as may 

3 be established by the Secretary. 

4 (2) COMMUNITY SOLAR FACILITY.—The term 

5 ‘‘community solar facility’’ means a community6 based distributed photovoltaic solar electricity gener7 ating facility that, as determined by the Secretary— 

8 (A) is owned by a subscriber organization; 

9 (B) has a nameplate rating of 2 megawatts 

10 or less; 

11 (C) is located in or near a community of 

12 subscribers to whom the beneficial use of the 

13 electricity generated by the facility belongs; and 

14 (D) reserves not less than 25 percent of 

15 the quantity of electricity generated by the fa16 cility for low-income households that are sub17 scribers to the facility. 

18 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti19 ty’’ means— 

20 (A) a low-income household; 

21 (B) a unit of State, territorial, or local 

22 government; 

23 (C) an Indian tribe; 

24 (D) a Native Hawaiian community-based 

25 organization; 


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1 (E) a rural community (as defined in sec2 tion 343(a) of the Consolidated Farm and 

3 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a))); 

4 (F) any other national or regional entity 

5 that— 

6 (i) deploys a safe, high-quality photo7 voltaic solar electricity generating facility 

8 for consumers under a model that maxi9 mizes energy savings to those consumers; 

10 and 

11 (ii) has experience, as determined by 

12 the Secretary, installing solar systems 

13 using a job training or community volun14 teer-based installation model; and 

15 (G) for the loan program only, in addition 

16 to entities described in subsections (A) through 

17 (F), a private entity that— 

18 (i) deploys a safe, high-quality photo19 voltaic solar electricity generating facility 

20 for consumers under a model that maxi21 mizes energy savings to those consumers; 

22 and 

23 (ii) will install solar systems using a 

24 job training installation model. 


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1 (4) GRANT-ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLD.—The term 

2 ‘‘grant-eligible household’’ means a household the 

3 members of which— 

4 (A) earn an income equal to 80 percent or 

5 less of the applicable area median income, as 

6 defined for the applicable year by the Secretary 

7 of Housing and Urban Development; and 

8 (B) reside in an owner-occupied home. 

9 (5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

10 means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other orga11 nized group or community, including any Alaskan 

12 Native village or regional or village corporation (as 

13 defined in, or established pursuant to, the Alaska 

14 Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et 

15 seq.)), that is recognized as eligible for the special 

16 programs and services provided by the United States 

17 to Indians because of their status as Indians. 

18 (6) LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLD.—The term 

19 ‘‘low-income household’’ means a household with an 

20 income equal to 80 percent or less of the applicable 

21 area median income, as defined for the applicable 

22 year by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel23 opment. 

24 (7) MULTI-FAMILY AFFORDABLE HOUSING.— 

25 The term ‘‘multi-family affordable housing’’ means 


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1 any federally subsidized affordable housing complex 

2 in which at least 50 percent of the units are reserved 

3 for low-income households. 

4 (8) NATIVE HAWAIIAN COMMUNITY-BASED OR5 GANIZATION.—The term ‘‘Native Hawaiian commu6 nity-based organization’’ means any organization 

7 that is composed primarily of Native Hawaiians 

8 from a specific community and that assists in the 

9 social, cultural, and educational development of Na10 tive Hawaiians in that community. 

11 (9) PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR ELECTRICITY GEN12 ERATING FACILITY.—The term ‘‘photovoltaic solar 

13 electricity generating facility’’ means— 

14 (A) a generator that creates electricity 

15 from light photons; and 

16 (B) the accompanying hardware enabling 

17 that electricity to flow— 

18 (i) onto the electric grid; or 

19 (ii) into an energy storage device. 

20 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

21 means the Secretary of Energy. 

22 (11) SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘‘subscriber’’ 

23 means an electricity consumer who— 


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1 (A) owns a subscription, or an equivalent 

2 unit or share of the capacity or generation, of 

3 a community solar facility; 

4 (B) has identified one or more physical lo5 cations— 

6 (i) to which the subscription will be 

7 attributed; 

8 (ii) within the same electric utility 

9 service territory, or within the same geo10 graphical area, as the community solar fa11 cility, in accordance with applicable State 

12 and local law; and 

13 (iii) that may change from time to 

14 time, subject to the condition that the 

15 physical location shall be within the geo16 graphical limits allowed for a subscriber of 

17 the applicable community solar facility; 

18 and 

19 (C) confirms the status of the consumer as 

20 a low-income household for each applicable fis21 cal year. 

22 (12) SUBSCRIPTION.—The term ‘‘subscription’’ 

23 means a share in the capacity, or a proportional in24 terest in the solar electricity generation, of a com25 munity solar facility. 


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1 (13) UNDERSERVED AREA.—The term ‘‘under2 served area’’ means— 

3 (A) a geographical area with low or no 

4 photovoltaic solar deployment, as determined by 

5 the Secretary; or 

6 (B) trust land, as defined in section 3765 

7 of title 38, United States Code. 

8 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF LOAN AND GRANT PRO9 GRAM.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

11 a program under which the Secretary shall provide 

12 loans and grants to eligible entities for use in ac13 cordance with this section. 

14 (2) FUNDING.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the avail16 ability of appropriations, the Secretary shall 

17 make grants and issue loans in accordance with 

18 this subsection. 

19 (B) LOANS.—Subject to subparagraph 

20 (D), not more than 50 percent of funds made 

21 available under subparagraph (A) for a fiscal 

22 year shall be used to provide loans to eligible 

23 entities for— 

24 (i) community solar facilities; or 


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1 (ii) multi-family affordable housing 

2 solar installations. 

3 (C) GRANTS.—After allocating amounts to 

4 carry out subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall 

5 use the remaining funds made available under 

6 subparagraph (A) for a fiscal year to provide 

7 grants to eligible entities— 

8 (i) to pay the upfront costs of photo9 voltaic solar electricity generating facilities 

10 installed on properties of grant-eligible 

11 households; or 

12 (ii) for any other eligible use described 

13 in subsection (e). 

14 (D) INCREASE IN GRANT AMOUNT.—Not15 withstanding subparagraph (A), if the Secretary 

16 determines that more than 50 percent of the 

17 amounts described in that subparagraph are 

18 necessary during any of fiscal years 2016 

19 through 2030 to provide grants to encourage 

20 innovative financing and installation models to 

21 reach underserved markets, the Secretary may 

22 use more than 50 percent of those amounts to 

23 provide those grants. 

24 (3) GOALS AND ACCOUNTABILITY.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—In providing loans and 

2 grants under this subsection, the Secretary 

3 shall take such actions as may be necessary to 

4 ensure that— 

5 (i) the assistance provided under this 

6 subsection is used to facilitate and encour7 age innovative solar installation and fi8 nancing models, under which the recipients 

9 develop and install photovoltaic solar elec10 tricity generating facilities that provide sig11 nificant savings to low-income households 

12 while providing job training or community 

13 engagement opportunities with respect to 

14 each solar system installed; 

15 (ii) loan and grant recipients shall— 

16 (I) have installed not less than 

17 600 kilowatts of photovoltaic solar en18 ergy during the 2-year period pre19 ceding the date on which the loan or 

20 grant is provided to ensure consumer 

21 protection; or 

22 (II) until the goal described in 

23 subclause (I) is achieved, enter into 

24 partnership with an entity that— 


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1 (aa) has not less than 2 

2 years of experience deploying 

3 solar photovoltaic systems for 

4 low-income households in a man5 ner that maximizes the savings 

6 benefits of solar access; and 

7 (bb) was primarily respon8 sible for the installation of at 

9 least 2 megawatts of solar energy 

10 during the 2-year period pre11 ceding the date on which the loan 

12 or grant is provided; 

13 (iii) the photovoltaic solar electricity 

14 generating facilities installed using assist15 ance provided under this subsection are 

16 safe, high-quality systems that comply with 

17 local building and safety codes and stand18 ards; 

19 (iv) the provision of assistance under 

20 this subsection establishes and fosters a 

21 partnership between the Federal Govern22 ment and eligible entities, resulting in effi23 cient development of solar installations 

24 with— 


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1 (I) minimal governmental inter2 vention; 

3 (II) limited governmental regula4 tion; and 

5 (III) significant involvement by 

6 nonprofit and private entities; 

7 (v) solar projects installed using as8 sistance provided under this subsection— 

9 (I) shall include job training; and 

10 (II) may include community par11 ticipation in which job trainees and 

12 volunteers assist in the development of 

13 solar projects; 

14 (vi) assistance provided under this 

15 subsection prioritizes development in— 

16 (I) areas with low photovoltaic 

17 penetration; 

18 (II) rural areas; 

19 (III) Indian tribal areas; and 

20 (IV) other underserved areas, in21 cluding Alaskan Native and Appa22 lachian communities; 

23 (vii) solar systems are developed using 

24 assistance provided under this subsection 


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1 on a geographically diverse basis among 

2 the eligible entities; and 

3 (viii) to the maximum extent prac4 ticable, solar installation activities for 

5 which assistance is provided under this 

6 section leverage, or connect grant-eligible 

7 households to, federally or locally sub8 sidized weatherization and energy effi9 ciency efforts that meet or exceed local en10 ergy efficiency standards. 

11 (B) DETERMINATION.—If, at any time, the 

12 Secretary determines that the goals described in 

13 this paragraph cannot be met by providing as14 sistance in accordance with this subsection, the 

15 Secretary shall immediately submit to the ap16 propriate committees of Congress a written no17 tice of that determination, including any pro18 posed changes necessary to achieve the goals 

19 under this paragraph. 

20 (4) COMMUNITY SOLAR FACILITIES.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—A community solar fa22 cility may use a loan provided under this sub23 section only to offset the costs of generation 

24 and provision of solar energy to low-income 


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1 households that are subscribers of the commu2 nity solar facility. 

3 (B) TRANSFER AND ASSIGNMENT OF SUB4 SCRIPTIONS.—A subscription to a community 

5 solar facility that receives assistance under this 

6 subsection may be transferred or assigned by 

7 the subscriber to— 

8 (i) any subscriber organization; or 

9 (ii) any individual or entity who quali10 fies to be a subscriber to that community 

11 solar facility. 

12 (C) TREATMENT.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—No owner, oper14 ator, or subscriber of a community solar 

15 facility that receives assistance under this 

16 subsection shall be subject to regulation by 

17 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commis18 sion solely as a result of an interest in the 

19 community solar facility. 

20 (ii) PRICE OF SUBSCRIPTION.—The 

21 price paid for any subscription to a com22 munity solar facility shall not be subject to 

23 the regulation of any Federal department, 

24 agency, or commission. 

25 (c) NATIONAL COMPETITION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall select el2 igible entities to receive loans or grants under this 

3 section through a nationwide competitive process, to 

4 be established by the Secretary. 

5 (2) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 

6 loan or grant under this section, an eligible entity 

7 shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 

8 time, in such manner, and containing such informa9 tion as the Secretary may require. 

10 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—In selecting eligible enti11 ties to receive loans or grants under this section, the 

12 Secretary shall, at a minimum— 

13 (A) require that the eligible entity— 

14 (i) enter into a grant or loan agree15 ment, as applicable, under subsection (d); 

16 and 

17 (ii) has obtained financial commit18 ments (or has demonstrated the capacity 

19 to obtain financial commitments) necessary 

20 to comply with that agreement; 

21 (B) ensure that loans and grants are pro22 vided, and amounts are used, in a manner that 

23 results in geographical diversity throughout the 

24 United States and within States, territories, 

25 and Indian tribal land among photovoltaic solar 


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1 electricity generating facilities installed using 

2 the assistance provided under this section; 

3 (C) to the maximum extent practicable, ex4 pand photovoltaic solar energy availability to— 

5 (i) geographical areas, throughout the 

6 United States and within States, terri7 tories, and Indian tribal land, with— 

8 (I) low photovoltaic solar pene9 tration; or 

10 (II) areas with a higher cost bur11 den with respect to the deployment or 

12 installation of photovoltaic solar elec13 tricity generating facilities; 

14 (ii) rural communities; 

15 (iii) Indian tribes; and 

16 (iv) other underserved areas, including 

17 Appalachian and Alaska Native commu18 nities; 

19 (D) take into account the warranty period 

20 and quality of the applicable photovoltaic solar 

21 electricity generating facility equipment and any 

22 necessary interconnecting equipment; and 

23 (E) ensure all calculations for estimated 

24 household energy savings are based solely on 


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1 electricity offsets from the photovoltaic solar 

2 electricity generating facilities. 

3 (d) LOAN AND GRANT AGREEMENTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of receiving a 

5 loan or grant under this section, an eligible entity 

6 shall enter into a loan or grant agreement, as appli7 cable, with the Secretary. 

8 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—A loan or grant agree9 ment under this subsection shall— 

10 (A) require the eligible entity— 

11 (i) to use the assistance provided 

12 under this section only in accordance with 

13 this section; 

14 (ii) to install such number of solar 

15 systems with such defined capacity target 

16 (expressed in megawatts) as may be estab17 lished by the Secretary, taking into consid18 eration the costs associated with carrying 

19 out loan or grant obligations in the areas 

20 in which the solar systems will be devel21 oped; 

22 (iii) to use the assistance in a manner 

23 that leverages other sources of funding 

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1 tion), including private or public funds, in 

2 developing the solar projects; and 

3 (iv) to establish loan terms, if applica4 ble, that maximize the benefit to the low5 income households receiving solar energy 

6 from the eligible entity; 

7 (B) require the Secretary to rescind any 

8 amounts provided to the eligible entity that are 

9 not used during the 2-year period beginning on 

10 the date on which the amounts are initially dis11 tributed to the eligible entity, except in any case 

12 in which the eligible entity has demonstrated to 

13 the satisfaction of the Secretary that a longer 

14 period, not to exceed 3 years after the date of 

15 initial distribution, is necessary to deliver pro16 posed services; 

17 (C) for a loan provided under this section, 

18 establish— 

19 (i) an interest rate equal to the then20 current cost of funds to the Department of 

21 the Treasury for obligations of comparable 

22 maturity to the loan; and 

23 (ii) a payout time that maximizes the 

24 savings to customers during the effective 

25 period of the agreement; and 


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1 (D) contain such other terms as the Sec2 retary may require to ensure compliance with 

3 the requirements of this section. 

4 (e) USE.—An eligible entity shall use a loan or grant 

5 provided under this section only for the following activi6 ties, for the purpose of developing new photovoltaic solar 

7 projects in the United States for low-income households 

8 and individuals who otherwise would likely be unable to 

9 afford or purchase photovoltaic solar systems: 

10 (1) PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR EQUIPMENT AND IN11 STALLATION.—To pay the costs of— 

12 (A) solar equipment, including only photo13 voltaic solar equipment and storage and all 

14 hardware or software components relating to 

15 safely producing, monitoring, and connecting 

16 the system to the electric grid or onsite storage; 

17 and 

18 (B) installation, including all direct labor 

19 associated with installing the photovoltaic solar 

20 equipment. 

21 (2) JOB TRAINING.—To fund onsite job train22 ing and community or volunteer engagement, includ23 ing— 


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1 (A) only job training costs directly associ2 ated with the solar projects funded under this 

3 section; and 

4 (B) job training opportunities that may 

5 cover the full range of the solar value chain, 

6 such as marketing and outreach, customer ac7 quisition, system design, and installation posi8 tions. 

9 (3) DEPLOYMENT SUPPORT.—To fund entities 

10 that have a demonstrated ability, as determined by 

11 the Secretary— 

12 (A) to advise State and local entities re13 garding low-income solar policy, regulatory, and 

14 program design to continue and expand the 

15 work of the entities; 

16 (B) to foster community outreach and edu17 cation regarding the benefits of photovoltaic 

18 solar energy for low-income and disadvantaged 

19 communities; or 

20 (C) to provide apprenticeship program op21 portunities registered and approved by— 

22 (i) the Office of Apprenticeship of the 

23 Department of Labor pursuant to part 29 

24 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

25 successor regulations); or 


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1 (ii) a State Apprenticeship Agency 

2 recognized by that Office. 

3 (4) ADMINISTRATION.—To pay the administra4 tive expenses of the eligible entity, including 

5 preproject feasibility efforts, in carrying out the du6 ties of the Secretary associated with delivering pro7 posed services, subject to the requirement that not 

8 more than 15 percent of the total amount of the as9 sistance provided to the eligible entity under this 

10 section may be used for administrative expenses. 

11 (f) COMPLIANCE.— 

12 (1) RECORDS AND AUDITS.—During the period 

13 beginning on the date of initial distribution to an eli14 gible entity of a loan or grant under this section and 

15 ending on the termination date of the loan or grant 

16 under subsection (g), the eligible entity shall main17 tain such records and adopt such administrative 

18 practices as the Secretary may require to ensure 

19 compliance with the requirements of this section and 

20 the applicable loan or grant agreement. 

21 (2) DETERMINATION BY SECRETARY.—If the 

22 Secretary determines that an eligible entity that re23 ceives a grant or loan under this section has not, 

24 during the 2-year period beginning on the date of 

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1 ance (or such longer period as is established under 

2 subsection (d)(2)(B)), substantially fulfilled the obli3 gations of the eligible entity under the applicable 

4 loan or grant agreement, the Secretary shall— 

5 (A) rescind the balance of any funds dis6 tributed to, but not used by, the eligible entity 

7 under this section; and 

8 (B) use those amounts to provide other 

9 loans or grants in accordance with this section. 

10 (g) TERMINATION.—The Secretary shall terminate a 

11 loan or grant provided under this section on a determina12 tion that the total amount of the loan or grant (excluding 

13 any interest, fees, and other earnings of the loan or grant) 

14 has been— 

15 (1) fully expended by the eligible entity; or 

16 (2) returned to the Secretary. 

17 (h) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promul19 gate such regulations as the Secretary determines to be 

20 necessary to carry out this section, to take effect on the 

21 date of promulgation. 

22 (i) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro23 priated to the Secretary to carry out this section 


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1 $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2030, 

2 to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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