I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3585 

To guide and provide for United States research, development, and 

demonstration of solar energy technologies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009 

Ms. GIFFORDS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Science and Technology 

A BILL 

To guide and provide for United States research, development, and demonstration of solar energy technologies, 

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 ‘‘Solar Technology 

5 Roadmap Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of Energy. 


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1 (2) SOLAR TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘‘solar 

2 technology’’ means— 

3 (A) photovoltaic technologies, including 

4 technologies utilizing— 

5 (i) crystalline silicon; 

6 (ii) cadmium telluride; 

7 (iii) semiconductor materials con8 taining copper, indium, and selenium; 

9 (iv) thin film silicon; 

10 (v) gallium arsenide alloy and multi11 junctions; 

12 (vi) dye-sensitized and organic solar 

13 cell technologies; 

14 (vii) concentrating photovoltaics; and 

15 (viii) other photovoltaic methods iden16 tified by the Secretary; 

17 (B) solar thermal electric technology, in18 cluding linear concentrator systems, dish/engine 

19 systems, and power tower systems; 

20 (C) solar thermal water heating tech21 nology; 

22 (D) solar heating and air conditioning 

23 technologies; 


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1 (E) passive solar design in architecture, in2 cluding both heating and lighting applications; 

3 and 

4 (F) related or enabling technologies, in5 cluding thin films, semiconducting materials, 

6 transparent conductors, optics, and technologies 

7 that increase durability or decrease cost or 

8 weight. 

9 TITLE I—SOLAR TECHNOLOGY 

10 RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, 

11 AND DEMONSTRATION 

12 SEC. 101. PROGRAM. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct a 

14 program of research, development, and demonstration for 

15 solar technology, including— 

16 (1) photovoltaics; 

17 (2) solar hot water and solar space heating and 

18 cooling; 

19 (3) concentrating solar power; 

20 (4) lighting systems that integrate sunlight and 

21 electrical lighting in complement to each other in 

22 common lighting fixtures for the purpose of improv23 ing energy efficiency; 

24 (5) manufacturability of low cost, high-quality 

25 solar energy systems; 


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1 (6) development of solar technology products 

2 that can be easily integrated into new and existing 

3 buildings; and 

4 (7) other areas as the Secretary considers ap5 propriate. 

6 (b) AWARDS.—The Secretary shall provide awards 

7 under this section on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis 

8 to— 

9 (1) academic institutions, national laboratories, 

10 Federal research agencies, State research agencies, 

11 nonprofit organizations, industrial entities, or con12 sortia thereof for research, development, and dem13 onstration activities; and 

14 (2) industry-led consortia for research, develop15 ment, and demonstration of advanced techniques for 

16 manufacturing a variety of solar energy products. 

17 (c) OBJECTIVE.—It is the policy of the United States 

18 that at least 75 percent of funding for solar technology 

19 research, development, and demonstration activities con20 ducted by the Department of Energy after fiscal year 

21 2014 support activities identified by and recommended 

22 under the Solar Technology Roadmap as described in sec23 tion 102. 


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1 SEC. 102. SOLAR TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

3 the date of enactment of this Act, the Solar Technology 

4 Roadmap Committee established under section 103 shall 

5 develop and transmit to the Secretary of Energy and the 

6 Congress a Solar Technology Roadmap that— 

7 (1) presents the best current estimate of the 

8 near-term (up to 2 years), mid-term (up to 7 years), 

9 and long-term (up to 15 years) research, develop10 ment, and demonstration needs in solar technology; 

11 and 

12 (2) provides guidance to the solar technology 

13 research, development, and demonstration activities 

14 supported by the Federal Government for the pur15 poses of meeting national priorities in energy secu16 rity, United States competitiveness, climate change 

17 mitigation, and energy diversification. 

18 (b) CONTENTS.—The Solar Technology Roadmap 

19 shall— 

20 (1) identify research, development, and dem21 onstration needs to address— 

22 (A) the key solar energy production chal23 lenges of intermittency, transience, storage, and 

24 scaling, including determining— 


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1 (i) which solar-related technological 

2 solutions are appropriate for various appli3 cations, locations, and seasons; 

4 (ii) how to store excess solar energy in 

5 batteries, supercapacitors, compressed air, 

6 flywheels, hydrogen, synthetic fuels, ther7 mal storage, or superconductors, or 

8 through other means; 

9 (iii) how and when to integrate solar 

10 energy into the electricity grid effectively, 

11 including— 

12 (I) the integration of solar tech13 nologies with a Smart Grid; 

14 (II) electrical power smoothing; 

15 (III) microgrid integration; 

16 (IV) solar resource forecasting; 

17 (V) long distance transmission; 

18 and 

19 (VI) ways to address arbitrage 

20 over minutes, hours, days, weeks, and 

21 seasons with respect to the full range 

22 of project scales; and 

23 (iv) how best to integrate solar tech24 nologies into buildings; 

25 (B) modeling and simulation; 


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1 (C) the design, materials, and manufacture 

2 of solar technologies, as well as related factory 

3 sciences; 

4 (D) the development of standards; 

5 (E) the need for demonstration facilities; 

6 (F) optimized packaging methods; and 

7 (G) environmental, safety, and health con8 cerns including reuse, recycling, hazardous ma9 terials disposal, and photovoltaic waste issues; 

10 (2) identify opportunities for coordination with 

11 partner industries such as those for semiconductors, 

12 LED lighting, energy storage, Smart Grid, and wind 

13 that can benefit from similar advances; 

14 (3) establish research, development, and dem15 onstration goals with specific timeframes with re16 spect to solar technologies for— 

17 (A) improving performance; 

18 (B) decreasing cost of electricity generated; 

19 (C) improving reliability; and 

20 (D) decreasing negative environmental im21 pacts and maximizing the environmental bene22 fits of solar technologies by examining life-cycle 

23 assessments of greenhouse gas emissions, en24 ergy payback time, and water usage; and 


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1 (4) include recommendations, as appropriate, to 

2 guide solar technology research, development, and 

3 demonstration activities. 

4 (c) REVISIONS AND UPDATES.— 

5 (1) REVISIONS.—Once every 3 years after com6 pletion of the first Solar Technology Roadmap under 

7 this Act, the Solar Technology Roadmap Committee 

8 shall conduct a comprehensive review and revision of 

9 the Solar Technology Roadmap. 

10 (2) UPDATES.—The Solar Technology Road11 map Committee shall update the Solar Technology 

12 Roadmap annually as necessary. 

13 SEC. 103. SOLAR TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP COMMITTEE. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 4 months after 

15 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es16 tablish, and provide support for as necessary, a Solar 

17 Technology Roadmap Committee. 

18 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Solar Technology Road20 map Committee shall consist of at least 11 members. 

21 Each member shall be appointed by the Secretary 

22 from among subject matter experts representing— 

23 (A) different sectors of the solar tech24 nology industry, including manufacturers and 

25 equipment suppliers; 


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1 (B) national laboratories; 

2 (C) academia; 

3 (D) relevant Federal agencies; 

4 (E) relevant State and local government 

5 entities; and 

6 (F) other entities or organizations, as ap7 propriate. 

8 (2) TERMS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

10 subparagraph (B), the term of a member of the 

11 Solar Technology Roadmap Committee shall be 

12 3 years. 

13 (B) ORIGINAL TERMS.—Of the members 

14 appointed originally to the Solar Technology 

Roadmap Committee, approximately 1 15 ⁄3 shall be 

appointed for a 2-year term, approximately 1 16 ⁄3

17 shall be appointed for a 3-year term, and approximately 1 18 ⁄3 shall be appointed for a 4-year 

19 term. 

20 (3) LIMIT ON TERMS.—A member of the Solar 

21 Technology Roadmap Committee may serve more 

22 than 1 term, except that such member may not serve 

23 a subsequent term unless 2 years have elapsed since 

24 the end of a previous term. 


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(4) INDUSTRY PARTICIPATION.—At least 1 1 ⁄3 of 

2 the members of the Solar Technology Roadmap 

3 Committee shall be individuals described in para4 graph (1)(A). 

5 (5) CHAIR.—The Secretary shall select a Chair 

6 from among the members of the Committee. The 

7 Chair shall not be an employee of the Federal Gov8 ernment. 

9 (c) EXPERT ADVICE.—In developing the Solar Tech10 nology Roadmap, the Solar Technology Roadmap Com11 mittee may establish subcommittees, working groups com12 prised of experts outside the membership of the Solar 

13 Technology Roadmap Committee, and other means of 

14 gathering expert advice on— 

15 (1) particular solar technologies or technological 

16 challenges; 

17 (2) crosscutting issues or activities relating to 

18 more than 1 particular solar technology or techno19 logical challenge; or 

20 (3) any other area the Solar Technology Road21 map Committee considers appropriate. 

22 (d) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The 

23 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 

24 apply to the Solar Technology Roadmap Committee. 


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1 SEC. 104. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION. 

2 The Director of the Office of Science and Technology 

3 Policy shall coordinate Federal interagency activities iden4 tified in and related to the Solar Technology Roadmap. 

5 SEC. 105. SOLAR TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION 

6 PROJECTS. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

8 shall establish a program to provide grants for demonstra9 tion projects to support the development of solar energy 

10 production, consistent with the Solar Technology Road11 map. 

12 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out the dem13 onstration program under this section, to the extent prac14 ticable, the Secretary shall— 

15 (1) include at least 10 photovoltaic technology 

16 projects that generate between 1 and 3 megawatts; 

17 (2) include at least 2 but not more than 3 solar 

18 thermal electric technology projects that generate 

19 greater than 30 megawatts; and 

20 (3) make awards for projects that— 

21 (A) are located and can be replicated at a 

22 wide range of sites; 

23 (B) demonstrate technologies that address 

24 intermittency, transience, and storage chal25 lenges; 


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1 (C) facilitate identification of optimum 

2 techniques among competing alternatives; 

3 (D) include business commercialization 

4 plans that have the potential for production of 

5 equipment at high volumes; 

6 (E) improve United States competitiveness 

7 and lead to development of manufacturing tech8 nology; 

9 (F) demonstrate positive environmental 

10 performance through life-cycle analysis; and 

11 (G) satisfy other criteria that the Sec12 retary considers necessary to carry out the pro13 gram. 

14 (c) GRANT AWARDS.—Funding provided under this 

15 section may be used, to the extent that funding is not oth16 erwise available through other Federal programs or power 

17 purchase agreements, for— 

18 (1) a necessary and appropriate site engineering 

19 study; 

20 (2) a detailed economic assessment of site-spe21 cific conditions; 

22 (3) appropriate feasibility studies to determine 

23 whether the demonstration can be replicated; 

24 (4) installation of equipment, service, and sup25 port; 


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1 (5) operation for a minimum of 3 years and 

2 monitoring for the duration of the demonstration; 

3 and 

4 (6) validation of technical, economic, and envi5 ronmental assumptions and documentation of les6 sons learned. 

7 (d) GRANT SELECTION.—Not later than 90 days 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act and annually there9 after, the Secretary shall conduct a national solicitation 

10 for applications for grants under this section. Grant re11 cipients shall be selected on a merit-reviewed, competitive 

12 basis. The Secretary shall give preference to proposals 

13 that address multiple elements described in subsection (b). 

14 (e) LIMITATIONS.—Funding shall not be provided 

15 under this section for more than 50 percent of the costs 

16 of the project for which assistance is provided. Not more 

17 than a total of $300,000,000 shall be provided under this 

18 section for the period encompassing fiscal years 2011 

19 through 2015. 

20 SEC. 106. PHOTOVOLTAIC PERFORMANCE STUDY. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit 

23 to the Congress the results of a study that analyzes the 

24 performance of photovoltaic installations in the United 

25 States. The study shall assess the current performance of 


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1 photovoltaic installations and identify opportunities to im2 prove the energy productivity of these systems through 

3 management, technology, and installation best practices. 

4 Such study shall include— 

5 (1) identification of the average energy produc6 tivity of current commercial and residential installa7 tions; 

8 (2) assessment of areas where energy produc9 tivity is reduced, including wire loss, module mis10 match, shading, dust, and other factors; 

11 (3) identification of practices and technologies 

12 that improve energy productivity; 

13 (4) analysis of the potential cost savings and 

14 energy productivity gains to the Federal, State, and 

15 local governments, utilities, private enterprise, and 

16 consumers available through the adoption, installa17 tion, and use of high-performance photovoltaic tech18 nologies and practices; and 

19 (5) an overview of current government incen20 tives at the Federal, State, and local levels that en21 courage the adoption of highly efficient photovoltaic 

22 systems and practices. 

23 (b) PUBLIC INPUT.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

24 interested stakeholders, including affected industry stake25 holders and energy efficiency advocates, have a meaningful 


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1 opportunity to provide comments, data, and other infor2 mation on the scope, contents, and conclusions of the 

3 study. 

4 SEC. 107. SOLAR ENERGY PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro6 priated to the Secretary to carry out section 101(a)— 

7 (1) $350,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

8 (2) $400,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

9 (3) $450,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; 

10 (4) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2014; and 

11 (5) $550,000,000 for fiscal year 2015. 

12 (b) ROADMAP IDENTIFIED ACTIVITIES.—The Sec13 retary shall dedicate a percentage of funding received pur14 suant to subsection (a) for research, development, and 

15 demonstration activities identified by and recommended 

16 under the Solar Technology Roadmap in the following per17 centages: 

18 (1) For fiscal year 2012, at least 30 percent. 

19 (2) For fiscal year 2013, at least 45 percent. 

20 (3) For fiscal year 2014, at least 60 percent. 

21 (4) For fiscal year 2015, at least 75 percent. 

22 (c) SOLAR TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP.—The Secretary 

23 may use up to $2,000,000 of the funds appropriated pur24 suant to subsection (a) for each fiscal year to support the 


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1 establishment and maintenance of the Solar Technology 

2 Roadmap. 

3 (d) EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATIONS.—Of funds au4 thorized by subsection (a), there are authorized to be ap5 propriated to the Secretary to carry out— 

6 (1) section 602 of the Energy Independence 

7 and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17171) 

8 $12,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2013 

9 through 2015; and 

10 (2) section 604 of the Energy Independence 

11 and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17172) 

12 $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2013 

13 through 2015. 

14 SEC. 108. EXISTING PROGRAMS. 

15 Except as otherwise specified in this Act, this Act 

16 shall supersede any duplicative or conflicting solar re17 search, development, and demonstration programs within 

18 the Department of Energy. 

19 SEC. 109. REPEALS. 

20 The following are hereby repealed: 

21 (1) The Solar Energy Research, Development, 

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

23 seq.), except for section 10. 


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1 (2) The Solar Photovoltaic Energy Research, 

2 Development, and Demonstration Act of 1978 (42 

3 U.S.C. 5581 et seq.). 

4 (3) Section 4(a)(2) and (3) of the Renewable 

5 Energy and Energy Efficiency Technology Competi6 tiveness Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 12003(a)(2) and 

7 (3)). 

8 TITLE II—PHOTOVOLTAIC 

9 RECYCLING 

10 SEC. 201. PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICE RECYCLING RESEARCH, 

11 DEVELOPMENT, AND DEMONSTRATION. 

12 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘photo13 voltaic device’’ includes photovoltaic cells and the elec14 tronic and electrical components of such devices. 

15 (b) IN GENERAL.—In order to address the issues de16 scribed in section 102(b)(1)(G), the Secretary shall award 

17 multiyear grants for research, development, and dem18 onstration activities to create innovative and practical ap19 proaches to increase reuse and recycling of photovoltaic 

20 devices and, through such activities, to contribute to the 

21 professional development of scientists, engineers, and tech22 nicians in the fields of photovoltaic and electronic device 

23 manufacturing, design, refurbishing, and recycling. The 

24 activities supported under this section shall address— 


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1 (1) technology to increase the efficiency of pho2 tovoltaic device recycling and maximize the recovery 

3 of valuable raw materials for use in new products 

4 while minimizing the life-cycle environmental im5 pacts such as greenhouse gas emissions and water 

6 usage; 

7 (2) expanded uses for materials from recycled 

8 photovoltaic devices; 

9 (3) development and demonstration of environ10 mentally responsible alternatives to the use of haz11 ardous materials in photovoltaic devices and the pro12 duction of such devices; 

13 (4) development of methods to separate and re14 move hazardous materials from photovoltaic devices 

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

16 manner; 

17 (5) product design and construction to facilitate 

18 disassembly and recycling of photovoltaic devices; 

19 (6) tools and methods to aid in assessing the 

20 environmental impacts of the production of photo21 voltaic devices and photovoltaic device recycling and 

22 disposal; 

23 (7) product design and construction and other 

24 tools and techniques to extend the life cycle of phoVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:44 Sep 17, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3585.IH H3585

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1 tovoltaic devices, including methods to promote their 

2 safe reuse; 

3 (8) strategies to increase consumer acceptance 

4 and practice of recycling of photovoltaic devices; and 

5 (9) processes to reduce the costs and environ6 mental impact of disposal of toxic materials used in 

7 photovoltaic devices. 

8 (c) MERIT REVIEW.—Grants shall be awarded under 

9 this section on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis. 

10 (d) APPLICATIONS.—Each application shall include a 

11 description of— 

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

13 contributions of each participating entity; 

14 (2) the applicability of the project to increasing 

15 reuse and recycling of photovoltaic devices with the 

16 least environmental impacts as measured by life17 cycle analyses, and the potential for incorporating 

18 the research results into industry practice; and 

19 (3) how the project will promote collaboration 

20 among scientists and engineers from different dis21 ciplines, such as electrical engineering, materials 

22 science, and social science. 

23 (e) DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS.—The results of ac24 tivities supported under this section shall be made publicly 

25 available through— 


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1 (1) development of best practices or training 

2 materials for use in the photovoltaics manufacturing, 

3 design, refurbishing, or recycling industries; 

4 (2) dissemination at industry conferences; 

5 (3) coordination with information dissemination 

6 programs relating to recycling of electronic devices 

7 in general; 

8 (4) demonstration projects; and 

9 (5) educational materials for the public pro10 duced in conjunction with State and local govern11 ments or nonprofit organizations on the problems 

12 and solutions related to reuse and recycling of pho13 tovoltaic devices. 

14 (f) PHOTOVOLTAIC MATERIALS PHYSICAL PROPERTY

15 DATABASE.— 

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

17 an initiative to develop a comprehensive physical 

18 property database of materials for use in photo19 voltaic devices. 

20 (2) PRIORITIES.—The Secretary, working with 

21 private industry, shall develop a plan to establish 

22 priorities and requirements for the database under 

23 this subsection. 

24 (3) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall co25 ordinate with the Director of the National Institute 


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1 of Standards and Technology and the Administrator 

2 of the Environmental Protection Agency to facilitate 

3 the incorporation of the database under this sub4 section with any existing ‘‘green’’ database for elec5 tronic manufacturing and recycling. 

Æ 


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