II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3460 

To require the Secretary of Energy to provide funds to States for rebates, 

loans, and other incentives to eligible individuals or entities for the 

purchase and installation of solar energy systems for properties located 

in the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 7, 2010 

Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, 

Mr. KAUFMAN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. 

BOXER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. MENENDEZ, 

Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. KERRY) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to provide funds to 

States for rebates, loans, and other incentives to eligible 

individuals or entities for the purchase and installation 

of solar energy systems for properties located in the 

United States, and for other purposes. 

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 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘eligi4 ble participant’’ means— 

5 (A) an owner of a home; 

6 (B) a business entity; 

7 (C) a local educational agency; and 

8 (D) any other individual or entity that the 

9 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

10 (2) INSTALLED NAMEPLATE CAPACITY.—The 

11 term ‘‘installed nameplate capacity’’ means the max12 imum output of a solar electric system under specific 

13 conditions designated by the manufacturer of the 

14 solar electric system. 

15 (3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

16 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

17 the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec18 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

19 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of Energy. 

21 (5) SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘solar 

22 energy system’’ means rooftop or ground-mounted 

23 solar equipment— 

24 (A) that is used to generate electricity or 

25 heat water; and 


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1 (B) with an installed nameplate capacity 

2 not exceeding 1 megawatt or the thermal equiv3 alent of 1 megawatt. 

4 SEC. 3. REBATES, LOANS, AND OTHER INCENTIVES FOR 

5 PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION OF SOLAR 

6 ENERGY SYSTEMS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish 

9 a program under which the Secretary shall provide funds 

10 to States to provide rebates, loans, or other incentives to 

11 eligible participants for the purchase and installation of 

12 solar energy systems for properties located in the United 

13 States. 

14 (b) ALLOCATION.—For each of fiscal years 2012 

15 through 2020, the Secretary shall provide funds to States 

16 in accordance with the allocation formula used to allocate 

17 funds to States to carry out State energy conservation 

18 plans under part D of title III of the Energy Policy and 

19 Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6321 et seq.). 

20 (c) STATES NOT RECEIVING FUNDS.— 

21 (1) DUTY OF STATES.—Any State that does not 

22 elect to receive funds provided under this section 

23 shall submit to the Secretary written notification of 

24 the decision of the State not to receive the funds. 


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1 (2) DUTY OF SECRETARY.—Upon the receipt of 

2 written notification by a State under paragraph (1), 

3 the Secretary shall redistribute the funds that the 

4 State would have received to each other State that 

5 elects to receive funds provided under this section in 

6 accordance with the allocation formula described in 

7 subsection (b). 

8 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

9 (1) AUTHORIZED USE OF FUNDS.—Subject to 

10 subsection (e), each State may use funds received 

11 under this section to expand an existing, or establish 

12 and fund a new— 

13 (A) State solar rebate program; 

14 (B) solar loan program; 

15 (C) solar performance-based incentive pro16 gram; or 

17 (D) solar incentive program or innovative 

18 solar financing program not described in sub19 paragraphs (A) through (C), as determined by 

20 the Secretary. 

21 (2) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—For each fiscal 

22 year during which a State uses funds provided under 

23 this section for a use described in paragraph (1), the 

24 State shall— 


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1 (A) certify to the Secretary that the funds 

2 will be used— 

3 (i) to supplement, expand, or create 

4 new programs (and will not supplant exist5 ing programs as to maximize program par6 ticipation); and 

7 (ii) to deploy an increased quantity of 

8 solar energy systems; and 

9 (B) submit to the Secretary an annual im10 plementation plan that contains— 

11 (i) projections for solar energy sys12 tems deployment; 

13 (ii) data regarding the number of eli14 gible participants that are assisted under 

15 existing applicable State programs; and 

16 (iii) projections for— 

17 (I) additional solar energy system 

18 deployment; and 

19 (II) the number of additional eli20 gible participants for the fiscal year 

21 following the fiscal year covered by 

22 the annual implementation plan. 

23 (e) SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM.—With respect to each 

24 State that receives funds under this section, the Secretary 


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1 may specify the type and capacity of the solar energy sys2 tem that the State may use. 

3 (f) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—Each State that receives 

4 funds under this section shall be responsible for an 

5 amount equal to 20 percent of the amount of the provided 

6 funds. 

7 (g) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more than 5 

8 percent of the amounts made available for each fiscal year 

9 under this section may be used to pay the administrative 

10 expenses of the Department of Energy that the Secretary 

11 determines to be necessary to carry out this Act (including 

12 expenses arising from monitoring and evaluation). 

13 (h) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAW.—An eligible 

14 participant that receives a rebate under this section shall 

15 not be eligible for a rebate under section 206(c) of the 

16 Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15853). 

17 (i) COORDINATION; CONSULTATION.—To the max18 imum extent practicable, the Secretary shall consult with 

19 the Secretary of the Treasury and the Governor of each 

20 State that receives funds under this section to ensure that 

21 each program carried out by each State through the use 

22 of the funds is coordinated with each other applicable in23 centive or financing program of the Federal Government 

24 or any other State. 


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1 (j) GOAL.—It is the aspiration and goal of the United 

2 States, through this Act or any appropriate incentive or 

3 research and development program, to install distributed 

4 solar energy systems on not less than 10,000,000 prop5 erties located in the United States by January 1, 2020. 

6 (k) REPORT REGARDING ADDITIONAL REC7 OMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 270 days after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 

9 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

10 Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

11 the House of Representatives a report that contains addi12 tional recommendations that the Secretary determines to 

13 be necessary to achieve the goal described in subsection 

14 (j), including any modification to the program established 

15 under subsection (a). 

16 (l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

18 out this section— 

19 (1) for fiscal year 2012, $250,000,000; and 

20 (2) for each of fiscal years 2013 through 2020, 

21 such sums as are necessary. 

Æ 


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