II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3224 

To increase the quantity of solar photovoltaic electricity by providing rebates 

for the purchase and installation of an additional 10,000,000 photovoltaic 

systems by 2018. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 7, 2008 

Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mr. KERRY, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. WARNER, and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To increase the quantity of solar photovoltaic electricity by 

providing rebates for the purchase and installation of 

an additional 10,000,000 photovoltaic systems by 2018. 

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 ‘‘10 Million-Solar Roofs 

5 Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1)(A) there is huge potential for increasing the 

2 quantity of electricity produced in the United States 

3 from distributed solar photovoltaics; and 

4 (B) the use of photovoltaics on the roofs of 10 

5 percent of existing buildings could meet 70 percent 

6 of peak electric demand; 

7 (2) investment in solar photovoltaics technology 

8 will create economies of scale that will allow the 

9 technology to deliver electricity at prices that are 

10 competitive with electricity from fossil fuels; 

11 (3) electricity produced from distributed solar 

12 photovoltaics helps to reduce greenhouse gas emis13 sions and does not emit harmful air pollutants, such 

14 as mercury, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides; 

15 (4) electricity produced from distributed solar 

16 photovoltaics enhances national energy security; 

17 (5) investments in renewable energy stimulate 

18 the development of green jobs that provide substan19 tial economic benefits; 

20 (6)(A) rebate programs in several States have 

21 been successful in increasing the quantity of solar 

22 energy from distributed photovoltaics; 

23 (B) the State of California has used rebate pro24 grams to install nearly 300 megawatts of grid-con25 nected photovoltaics since 2000; and 


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1 (C) the State of New Jersey has installed near2 ly 50 megawatts of grid-connected photovoltaics 

3 since 2001, including 20 megawatts in 2007 alone; 

4 and 

5 (7) Germany has installed nearly 4,000 

6 megawatts of distributed solar photovoltaics and 

7 sustained an annual growth rate approaching 67 

8 percent since enacting aggressive laws to encourage 

9 photovoltaic installations 

10 SEC. 3. REBATES FOR PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION OF 

11 PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy (referred 

13 to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall establish a pro14 gram under which the Secretary shall provide rebates to 

15 eligible individuals or entities for the purchase and instal16 lation of photovoltaic systems for residential and commer17 cial properties in order to install, over the 10-year period 

18 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, at least 

19 an additional 10,000,000 solar systems in the United 

20 States (as compared to the number of solar systems in21 stalled in the United States as of the date of enactment 

22 of this Act) with a cumulative capacity of at least 30,000 

23 megawatts. 

24 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a rebate 

2 under this section— 

3 (A) the recipient of the rebate shall be a 

4 homeowner, business, nonprofit entity, or State 

5 or local government that purchased and in6 stalled a photovoltaic system for a property lo7 cated in the United States; 

8 (B) the total capacity of the photovoltaic 

9 system for the property shall not exceed 4 

10 megawatts; 

11 (C) the buildings on the property for which 

12 the photovoltaic system is installed shall— 

13 (i) in the case of a new or renovated 

14 building, achieve a rating of not less than 

15 75 under the Energy Star program estab16 lished by section 324A of the Energy Pol17 icy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 6294a) (or an equivalent rating under an 

19 established benchmarking metric); and 

20 (ii) in the case of any building not de21 scribed in clause (i), be retrofitted to 

22 achieve a rating improvement of not less 

23 than 30 points under the Energy Star pro24 gram (or an equivalent improvement under 

25 an established benchmarking metric); and 


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1 (D) the recipient of the rebate shall meet 

2 such other eligibility criteria as are determined 

3 to be appropriate by the Secretary. 

4 (2) OTHER ENTITIES.—After public review and 

5 comment, the Secretary may identify other individ6 uals or entities located in the United States that 

7 qualify for a rebate under this section. 

8 (c) AMOUNT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

10 the amount of a rebate provided to an eligible indi11 vidual or entity for the purchase and installation of 

12 a photovoltaic system for a property under this sec13 tion shall be at least $3 for each watt of installed 

14 capacity. 

15 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The total amount of a 

16 rebate provided to an eligible individual or entity for 

17 the purchase and installation of a photovoltaic sys18 tem for a property under this section shall not ex19 ceed 50 percent of the cost of the purchase and in20 stallation of the system. 

21 (d) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAW.—The authority 

22 provided under this section shall be in addition to any 

23 other authority under which credits or other types of fi24 nancial assistance are provided for installation of a photo25 voltaic system for a property. 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec3 essary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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