IB 

Union Calendar No. 400 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3597 

[Report No. 116–499] 

To guide and authorize basic research programs in the United States for 

research, development, and demonstration of solar energy technologies, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 28, 2019 

Mr. MCADAMS (for himself and Mr. FORTENBERRY) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 

Additional sponsors: Mr. CRIST, Ms. ESCOBAR, and Mrs. AXNE

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 28, 2019] 


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A BILL 

To guide and authorize basic research programs in the 

United States for research, development, and demonstration of solar energy technologies, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Solar Energy Research 

5 and Development Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

8 solar energy program to conduct research, development, test9 ing, and evaluation of solar energy technologies. In car10 rying out such program, the Secretary shall, in accordance 

11 with subsection (b), award grants and enter into contracts 

12 and cooperative agreements under this section, and sections 

13 3, 4, and 5 for each of the following purposes: 

14 (1) To improve the energy efficiency, reliability, 

15 resilience, security, and capacity of solar energy gen16 eration. 

17 (2) To optimize the design and adaptability of 

18 solar energy systems to the broadest practical range 

19 of geographic and atmospheric conditions. 

20 (3) To reduce the cost of manufacturing, instal21 lation, operation, and maintenance of solar energy 

22 systems. 

23 (4) To create and improve conversion of solar en24 ergy to useful forms. 


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1 (b) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREE2 MENTS.— 

3 (1) GRANTS.—In carrying out the program es4 tablished under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

5 award grants on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis 

6 to eligible entities for projects that the Secretary de7 termines would best achieve the goals of the program. 

8 (2) CONTRACTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREE9 MENTS.—In carrying out the program established 

10 under subsection (a), the Secretary may enter into 

11 contracts and cooperative agreements with eligible en12 tities and Federal agencies for projects that the Sec13 retary determines would further the purposes of the 

14 program. 

15 (3) APPLICATION.—An entity seeking a grant or 

16 a contract or agreement under this Act shall submit 

17 to the Secretary an application at such time, in such 

18 manner, and containing such information as the Sec19 retary may require. 

20 (c) SOLAR ENERGY RESEARCH SUBJECT AREAS.—The 

21 program established under subsection (a) shall focus on the 

22 research, development, testing, and evaluation of each of the 

23 following subject areas: 

24 (1) Photovoltaic devices and related electronic 

25 components, including converters, sensors, energy 


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1 monitors, communication and control equipment, and 

2 protocols. 

3 (2) Concentrated solar power, including solar 

4 thermal and concentrating solar photovoltaic tech5 nologies. 

6 (3) Low cost, high-quality solar energy systems. 

7 (4) Low cost, thin-film solar technologies, includ8 ing the use of perovskite materials in solar cells. 

9 (5) Solar heating and cooling systems, including 

10 distributed solar-powered air conditioning. 

11 (6) Solar technology products that can be easily 

12 integrated into new buildings, existing buildings, ag13 ricultural and aquatic environments, and other infra14 structure. 

15 (7) Solar technology that is resilient to extreme 

16 weather events. 

17 (8) Solar technology products integrated into 

18 transportation applications in coordination with ve19 hicle technologies research and development activities 

20 supported by the Department of Energy. 

21 (9) Storage technologies to address the transience 

22 and intermittency of solar energy resources, including 

23 batteries, supercapacitors, and thermal storage. 

24 (10) Microgrids using solar technology. 


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1 (11) Solar technologies enabling safe grid oper2 ating conditions, such as fast-disconnect during an 

3 emergency. 

4 (12) Distributed solar energy technologies, such 

5 as rooftop solar panels. 

6 (13) Technologies and designs that enable a 

7 broad range of scales for solar power production. 

8 (14) Advanced solar manufacturing technologies 

9 and best practices, including— 

10 (A) materials and processes; 

11 (B) development of industry standards; 

12 (C) design and integration practices; and 

13 (D) optimized packaging methods and new 

14 device designs. 

15 (15) Advanced analytic and computing capabili16 ties for better modeling and simulations of solar en17 ergy systems. 

18 (16) Electrical grid integration, including— 

19 (A) integration of solar technologies into 

20 smart grid, transmission, and distribution; 

21 (B) coordination of solar with other distrib22 uted and large-scale energy resources; 

23 (C) electrical power smoothing; 

24 (D) microgrid integration; 

25 (E) community solar; 


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1 (F) solar resource forecasting; 

2 (G) regional and national electric system 

3 balancing and long distance transmission op4 tions, including direct current and super5 conducting transmission and long-term storage 

6 options; 

7 (H) ways to address system operations over 

8 minutes, hours, days, weeks, and seasons with re9 spect to the full range of project scales; and 

10 (I) electric grid security, including cyber 

11 and physical security. 

12 (17) Non-hardware and information-based ad13 vances in solar energy system design, installation, 

14 and operation. 

15 (18) Solar energy technology as a part of strate16 gies commonly referred to as ‘‘behind-the-meter strate17 gies’’, including with respect to electricity generation, 

18 load, energy efficiency, controls, storage, and electric 

19 vehicles. 

20 (19) Methods to reduce the total volume of water 

21 used in the manufacture, construction, operation, and 

22 maintenance of solar energy technologies. 

23 (20) Next generation demonstration facilities. 

24 (21) Other subject areas determined by the Sec25 retary. 


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1 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND WORKFORCE DEVEL2 OPMENT.—In carrying out the program established under 

3 subsection (a), the Secretary may also conduct, for purposes 

4 of supporting technical, non-hardware, and information5 based advances in solar energy systems development and op6 erations, including activities expanding access to solar en7 ergy for low-income individuals and communities— 

8 (1) technical assistance and analysis activities 

9 with eligible entities; and 

10 (2) workforce development and training activi11 ties, including activities that support the dissemina12 tion of standards and best practices for enabling solar 

13 power production. 

14 (e) PROGRAM TARGETS.—The program established 

15 under subsection (a) shall address near-term (up to 2 

16 years), mid-term (up to 7 years), and long-term (up to 15 

17 years) challenges to the advancement of solar energy sys18 tems. 

19 (f) SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY.—Each entity receiving 

20 a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under this sec21 tion shall endeavor, in carrying out activities under such 

22 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, to incorporate, 

23 where appropriate, sustainable and green chemistry and en24 gineering principles, practices, and methodologies. 


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1 (g) WILDLIFE IMPACT MITIGATION.—In carrying out 

2 the activities described in subsection (c), the program estab3 lished under subsection (a) shall support wildlife impact 

4 mitigation technologies and strategies, including the use of 

5 distributed solar technologies, to reduce the potential nega6 tive impacts of solar energy systems on wildlife, including 

7 bird species and local flora and fauna. 

8 (h) STEWARDSHIP OF NATIONAL LABORATORY RE9 SOURCES.—In awarding grants and entering into contracts 

10 and cooperative agreements under this Act, the Secretary 

11 shall steward relevant capabilities and programs of the Na12 tional Laboratories. 

13 (i) CONFORMING REPEALS.—The following provisions 

14 of law are hereby repealed: 

15 (1) The Solar Energy Research, Development, 

16 and Demonstration Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5551 et 

17 seq.), except for section 10. 

18 (2) The Solar Photovoltaic Energy Research, De19 velopment, and Demonstration Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 

20 5581 et seq.). 

21 (3) Paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 4(a) of the 

22 Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technology 

23 Competitiveness Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 12003(a)). 

24 (4) Subparagraph (A) of section 931(a)(2) of the 

25 Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16231(a)(2)). 


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1 (5) Sections 606 and 607 of the Energy Inde2 pendence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17174 

3 and 17175). 

4 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

5 (1) The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means any of the 

6 following entities: 

7 (A) An institution of higher education. 

8 (B) A National Laboratory. 

9 (C) A Federal research agency. 

10 (D) A State research agency. 

11 (E) A nonprofit research organization. 

12 (F) An industrial entity or a multi-institu13 tional consortium thereof. 

14 (2) The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 

15 has the meaning given such term in section 101 of the 

16 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

17 (3) The term ‘‘National Laboratory’’ has the 

18 meaning given such term in section 2(3) of the En19 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801(3)). 

20 (4) The term ‘‘photovoltaic device’’ includes pho21 tovoltaic cells and the electronic and electrical compo22 nents of such devices. 

23 (5) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of 

24 Energy. 


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1 SEC. 3. SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION 

2 PROJECTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program estab4 lished under section 2(a), the Secretary shall award grants 

5 on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis to eligible entities 

6 for demonstration projects to advance the development of 

7 solar energy technologies and systems production. 

8 (b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under subsection 

9 (a), the Secretary shall give priority to projects that— 

10 (1) are located in geographically diverse regions 

11 of the United States; 

12 (2) can be replicated in a variety of regions and 

13 climates; 

14 (3) demonstrate technologies that address 

15 intermittency, variability, storage challenges, behind16 the-meter operations, and independent operational ca17 pability; 

18 (4) coordinate solar technologies with other dis19 tributed and large-scale energy resources; 

20 (5) facilitate identification of optimum ap21 proaches among competing solar energy technologies; 

22 (6) include business commercialization plans 

23 that have the potential for production of solar energy 

24 equipment at high volumes; 

25 (7) support the development of advanced manu26 facturing technologies that have the potential to imVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:30 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3597.RH H3597

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1 prove United States competitiveness in the inter2 national solar energy manufacturing sector; 

3 (8) provide the greatest potential to reduce en4 ergy costs, as well as promote accessibility and com5 munity implementation of demonstrated technologies, 

6 for consumers; 

7 (9) increase disclosure and transparency of in8 formation to all market participants to help in mak9 ing optimal decisions; 

10 (10) promote overall electric infrastructure reli11 ability and resilience should grid functions be dis12 rupted or damaged; 

13 (11) promote solar energy in low-income commu14 nities and those disproportionately burdened by envi15 ronmental pollution; and 

16 (12) satisfy any other criteria that the Secretary 

17 determines appropriate. 

18 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants under this section may 

19 be used, to the extent that funding is not otherwise available 

20 through other Federal programs or power purchase agree21 ments, for— 

22 (1) any necessary site engineering study; 

23 (2) an economic assessment of site-specific condi24 tions; 


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1 (3) appropriate feasibility studies to determine 

2 whether the demonstration can be replicated; 

3 (4) installation of equipment, service, and sup4 port; 

5 (5) operation for at least the minimum amount 

6 of time required to fully assess the project’s results 

7 and objectives, as determined by a peer-reviewed proc8 ess; and 

9 (6) validation of technical, economic, and envi10 ronmental assumptions and documentation of lessons 

11 learned. 

12 (d) SOLICITATION.—Not later than 90 days after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the 

14 Secretary shall conduct a national solicitation for applica15 tions for grants under this section. 

16 SEC. 4. NEXT GENERATION SOLAR ENERGY MANUFAC17 TURING INITIATIVE. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program estab19 lished under section 2(a), the Secretary shall conduct re20 search, development, and demonstration projects, in accord21 ance with section 2(b), to advance new solar energy manu22 facturing technologies and techniques, including those that 

23 manufacture solar cells, hardware, and enabling devices. 

24 (b) STRATEGIC VISION REPORT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 1, 

2 2020, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 

3 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep4 resentatives, the Committee on Energy and Natural 

5 Resources of the Senate, and any other committees of 

6 Congress deemed appropriate by the Secretary a re7 port on the results of a study that examines the viable 

8 market opportunities available for solar energy tech9 nology manufacturing in the United States, including 

10 solar cells, hardware, and enabling technologies. 

11 (2) REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—The report under 

12 paragraph (1) shall include— 

13 (A) a description of— 

14 (i) the ability to competitively manu15 facture solar technology in the United 

16 States, including the manufacture of— 

17 (I) new and advanced materials, 

18 such as cells made with new, cost-effec19 tive, high efficiency materials; 

20 (II) solar module equipment and 

21 enabling technologies, including smart 

22 inverters, sensors, and tracking equip23 ment; 

24 (III) innovative solar module de25 signs and applications, including those 


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1 that can directly integrate with new 

2 and existing buildings and other infra3 structure; and 

4 (IV) other research areas as deter5 mined by the Secretary; and 

6 (ii) opportunities and barriers within 

7 the United States and international solar 

8 energy technology supply chains; 

9 (B) policy recommendations for enhancing 

10 solar energy technology manufacturing in the 

11 United States; and 

12 (C) an aggressive 10-year target and plan, 

13 beginning in 2021, to enhance the competitive14 ness of solar energy technology manufacturing in 

15 the United States. 

16 (c) PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out the 

17 research, development, and demonstration program under 

18 this section, to the extent practicable, the Secretary shall 

19 follow the recommendations included in the report under 

20 subsection (b) and award grants and enter into contracts 

21 and cooperative agreements for solar energy manufacturing 

22 projects that— 

23 (1) reduce capital expenditures or provide lower24 cost manufacturing option; 

25 (2) eliminate manufacturing process steps; 


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1 (3) reduce energy, water, and material inputs; 

2 (4) establish alternative supply chains for mate3 rials and components; and 

4 (5) take advantage of rapid prototyping, small 

5 batch manufacturing, and roll-to-roll processing. 

6 (d) PROGRAM EVALUATION.—Beginning not later than 

7 3 years after the completion of the report under subsection 

8 (b), and every 4 years thereafter, the Secretary shall pro9 vide, and make available to the public and the relevant au10 thorizing and appropriations committees of Congress, an 

11 independent review of the program authorized under this 

12 section to evaluate its progress toward meeting the policy 

13 recommendations and targets determined in the report. 

14 SEC. 5. PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICE RECYCLING RESEARCH, DE15 VELOPMENT, AND DEMONSTRATION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program, the 

17 Secretary shall conduct research, development, and dem18 onstration projects, in accordance with section 2(b), to cre19 ate innovative and practical approaches to increase reuse 

20 and recycling of photovoltaic devices. 

21 (b) PURPOSE.—The Secretary shall award grants and 

22 enter into contracts and cooperative agreements under sub23 section (a) for projects that address— 

24 (1) technology to increase the efficiency of photo25 voltaic device recycling and maximize the recovery of 


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1 valuable raw materials for use in new products while 

2 minimizing the life-cycle environmental impacts such 

3 as greenhouse gas emissions and water usage; 

4 (2) expanded uses for materials from recycled 

5 photovoltaic devices; 

6 (3) development and demonstration of environ7 mentally responsible alternatives to the use of haz8 ardous materials in photovoltaic devices and the pro9 duction of such devices; 

10 (4) development of methods to separate and re11 move hazardous materials from photovoltaic devices 

12 and to recycle or dispose of those materials in a safe 

13 manner; 

14 (5) product design and construction to facilitate 

15 disassembly and recycling of photovoltaic devices; 

16 (6) tools and methods to aid in assessing the en17 vironmental impacts of the production of photovoltaic 

18 devices and photovoltaic device recycling and dis19 posal; 

20 (7) product design and construction and other 

21 tools and techniques to extend the life cycle of photo22 voltaic devices, including methods to promote their 

23 safe reuse; 

24 (8) strategies to increase consumer acceptance 

25 and practice of recycling of photovoltaic devices; and 


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1 (9) processes to reduce the costs and environ2 mental impact of disposal of toxic materials used in 

3 photovoltaic devices. 

4 (c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity seeking a grant, 

5 contract, or cooperative agreement under this section shall 

6 submit to the Secretary an application that includes a de7 scription of— 

8 (1) the project that will be undertaken and the 

9 contributions of each participating entity; 

10 (2) the applicability of the project to increasing 

11 reuse and recycling of photovoltaic devices with the 

12 least environmental impacts as measured by life-cycle 

13 analyses, and the potential for incorporating the re14 search results into industry practice; and 

15 (3) how the project will promote collaboration 

16 among scientists and engineers from different dis17 ciplines, such as electrical engineering, materials 

18 science, and social science. 

19 (d) DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS.—The Secretary 

20 shall publish the results of projects supported under this sec21 tion through— 

22 (1) development of best practices or training ma23 terials for use in the photovoltaics manufacturing, de24 sign, installation, refurbishing, or recycling indus25 tries; 


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1 (2) dissemination at industry conferences; 

2 (3) coordination with information dissemination 

3 programs relating to recycling of electronic devices in 

4 general; 

5 (4) demonstration projects; and 

6 (5) educational materials for the public produced 

7 in conjunction with State, Tribal, and local govern8 ments or nonprofit organizations on the problems and 

9 solutions related to reuse and recycling of photovoltaic 

10 devices. 

11 (e) PHOTOVOLTAIC MATERIALS PHYSICAL PROPERTY

12 DATABASE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 1, 

14 2021, the Secretary shall establish a comprehensive 

15 physical property database of materials for use in 

16 photovoltaic devices. Such database shall include— 

17 (A) identification of materials used in pho18 tovoltaic devices; 

19 (B) a list of commercially available 

20 amounts of these materials and their country of 

21 origin; 

22 (C) amounts of these materials projected to 

23 be available through mining or recycling of pho24 tovoltaic and other electronic devices; and 


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1 (D) a list of other significant uses for each 

2 of these materials. 

3 (2) PRIORITIES.—Not later than September 1, 

4 2020, the Secretary, working with private industry, 

5 shall develop a plan to establish priorities and re6 quirements for the database under this subsection, in7 cluding the protection of proprietary information, 

8 trade secrets, and other confidential business informa9 tion. 

10 (3) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall coordi11 nate with the Director of the National Institute of 

12 Standards and Technology, the Administrator of the 

13 Environmental Protection Agency, and the Adminis14 trator of the Department of Interior to facilitate the 

15 incorporation of the database under this subsection 

16 with any existing database for materials involved in 

17 electronic manufacturing and recycling. 

18 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec20 retary to carry out this Act— 

21 (1) $270,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; 

22 (2) $283,500,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

23 (3) $297,675,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

24 (4) $312,558,750 for fiscal year 2023; and 

25 (5) $328,186,688 for fiscal year 2024. 


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1 SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that in order to reduce emis3 sions and meet 100 percent of the power demand in the 

4 United States through clean, renewable, or zero-emission en5 ergy sources, the Secretary must prioritize research and de6 velopment for all innovative energy technologies, including 

7 research to develop and improve the efficiency of fossil and 

8 nuclear power technologies. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to provide for 

a program of research, development, and demonstration 

of solar energy technologies, and for other purposes.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 400 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3597 

[Report No. 116–499] 

A BILL 

To guide and authorize basic research programs in 

for other purposes. demonstration of solar energy technologies, and the United States for research, development, and 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:30 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H3597.RH H3597

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