110 HR 2774 RH: Solar Energy Research and Advancement
U.S. House of Representatives
2007-06-19
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.This Act may be cited as the
Solar Energy Research and Advancement
Act of 2007
.
2.For purposes of this Act:
(1)The term
Department means the Department of Energy.
(2)The term
Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.
3.Thermal energy
storage research and development program
(a)The
Secretary shall establish a program of research and development to provide
lower cost and more viable thermal energy storage technologies to enable the
shifting of electric power loads on demand and extend the operating time of
concentrating solar power electric generating plants.
(b)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary for carrying out this section $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2008,
$7,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, $9,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, $10,000,000
for fiscal year 2011, and $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2012.
4.Concentrating
solar power commercial application studies
(a)The
Secretary shall conduct a study on methods to integrate concentrating solar
power into regional electricity transmission systems, and to identify new
transmission or transmission upgrades needed to bring electricity from high
concentrating solar power resource areas to growing electric power load centers
throughout the United States. The study shall analyze and assess approaches for
management and integration of concentrating solar power into regional electric
transmission grids to improve electric reliability, to efficiently manage load,
and to reduce demand on the natural gas transmission system for electric power.
The Secretary shall submit a report to Congress on the results of this study
not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act.
(b)Not later than 6 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall transmit to Congress a
report on the results of a study on methods to reduce the amount of water
consumed by concentrating solar power systems.
1.This Act may be cited as the
Solar Energy Research and Advancement
Act of 2007
.
2.For purposes of this Act:
(1)The term
Department means the Department of Energy.
(2)The term
Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.
3.Thermal energy storage
research and development program
(a)The
Secretary shall establish a program of research and development to provide
lower cost and more viable thermal energy storage technologies to enable the
shifting of electric power loads on demand and extend the operating time of
concentrating solar power electric generating plants.
(b)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary for carrying out this section $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2008,
$7,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, $9,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, $10,000,000
for fiscal year 2011, and $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2012.
4.Concentrating solar
power commercial application studies
(a)The
Secretary shall conduct a study on methods to integrate concentrating solar
power into regional electricity transmission systems, and to identify new
transmission or transmission upgrades needed to bring electricity from high
concentrating solar power resource areas to growing electric power load centers
throughout the United States. The study shall analyze and assess cost-effective
approaches for management and large-scale integration of concentrating solar
power into regional electric transmission grids to improve electric
reliability, to efficiently manage load, and to reduce demand on the natural
gas transmission system for electric power. The Secretary shall submit a report
to Congress on the results of this study not later than 12 months after the
date of enactment of this Act.
(b)Not later than 6 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall transmit to Congress a
report on the results of a study on methods to reduce the amount of water
consumed by concentrating solar power systems.
5.Solar energy
curriculum development and certification grants
(a)The Secretary shall establish in the Office
of Solar Energy Technologies a competitive grant program to create and
strengthen solar industry workforce training and internship programs in
installation, operation, and maintenance of solar energy products. The goal of
this program is to ensure a supply of well-trained individuals to support the
expansion of the solar energy industry.
(b)Grant funds may be used to support the following
activities:
(1)Creation and development
of a solar energy curriculum appropriate for the local educational,
entrepreneurial, and environmental conditions, including curriculum for
community colleges.
(2)Support of certification programs, such as
the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners, for individual
solar energy system installers, instructors, and training programs.
(3)Internship programs that
provide hands-on participation by students in commercial applications.
(4)Activities required to
obtain certification of training programs and facilities by the Institute of
Sustainable Power or an equivalent industry-accepted quality-control
certification program.
(5)Incorporation of
solar-specific learning modules into traditional occupational training and
internship programs for construction-related trades.
(6)The purchase of equipment necessary to
carry out activities under this section.
(7)Support of programs that provide guidance
and updates to solar energy curriculum instructors.
(c)Grants may be awarded
under this section for up to 3 years. The Secretary shall award grants to
ensure sufficient geographic distribution of training programs nationally.
Grants shall only be awarded for programs certified by the Institute of
Sustainable Power or an equivalent industry-accepted quality-control
certification institution, or for new and growing programs with a credible path
to certification. Due consideration shall be given to women, underrepresented
minorities, and persons with disabilities.
(d)The Secretary shall make public, via the
website of the Department or upon request, information on the name and
institution for all grants awarded under this section, including a brief
description of the project as well as the grant award amount.
(e)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for carrying out this section
$10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012.
6.Daylighting systems and
direct solar light pipe technology
(a)The
Secretary shall establish a program of research and development to provide
assistance in the demonstration and commercial application of direct solar
renewable energy sources to provide alternatives to traditional power
generation for lighting and illumination, including light pipe technology, and
to promote greater energy conservation and improved efficiency. All direct
solar renewable energy devices supported under this program shall have the
capability to provide measurable data on the amount of kilowatt-hours saved
over the traditionally powered light sources they have replaced.
(b)The
Secretary shall transmit to Congress an annual report assessing the measurable
data derived from each project in the direct solar renewable energy sources
program and the energy savings resulting from its use.
(c)For
purposes of this section—
(1)the term direct
solar renewable energy means energy from a device that converts sunlight
into useable light within a building, tunnel, or other enclosed structure,
replacing artificial light generated by a light fixture and doing so without
the conversion of the sunlight into another form of energy; and
(2)the term light pipe means a
device designed to transport visible solar radiation from its collection point
to the interior of a building while excluding interior heat gain in the
nonheating season.
(d)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary for carrying out this section $3,500,000 for each of the fiscal years
2008 through 2012.
7.Solar Air Conditioning
Research and Development Program
(a)The
Secretary shall establish a research, development, and demonstration program to
promote less costly and more reliable decentralized distributed solar-powered
air conditioning for individuals and businesses.
(b)Grants made available under this section may be used
to support the following activities:
(1)Advancing solar thermal
collectors, including concentrating solar thermal and electric systems, flat
plate and evacuated tube collector performance.
(2)Achieving technical and
economic integration of solar-powered distributed air-conditioning systems with
existing hot water and storage systems for residential applications.
(3)Designing and
demonstrating mass manufacturing capability to reduce costs of modular
standardized solar-powered distributed air conditioning systems and
components.
(4)Improving the efficiency
of solar-powered distributed air-conditioning to increase the effectiveness of
solar-powered absorption chillers, solar-driven compressors and condensors, and
cost-effective precooling approaches.
(5)Researching and comparing
performance of solar-powered distributed air conditioning systems in different
regions of the country, including potential integration with other onsite
systems, such as solar, biogas, geothermal heat pumps, and propane assist or
combined propane fuel cells, with a goal to develop site-specific energy
production and management systems that ease fuel and peak utility
loading.
(c)The non-Federal share of research and development
projects supported under this section shall be not less than 20 percent, and
for demonstration projects shall be not less than 50 percent.
(d)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary for carrying out this section $2,500,000 for each of the fiscal years
2008 through 2012.
8.Photovoltaic
demonstration program
(a)The Secretary shall establish a program of grants to
States to demonstrate advanced photovoltaic technology.
(b)
(1)Ability to meet
requirementsTo receive funding under the program under this
section, a State must submit a proposal that demonstrates, to the satisfaction
of the Secretary, that the State will meet the requirements of subsection
(f).
(2)Compliance with
requirementsIf a State has received funding under this section
for the preceding year, the State must demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the
Secretary, that it complied with the requirements of subsection (f) in carrying
out the program during that preceding year, and that it will do so in the
future, before it can receive further funding under this section.
(3)Each State submitting a qualifying proposal shall
receive funding under the program based on the proportion of United States
population in the State according to the 2000 census. In each fiscal year, the
portion of funds attributable under this paragraph to States that have not
submitted qualifying proposals in the time and manner specified by the
Secretary shall be distributed pro rata to the States that have submitted
qualifying proposals in the specified time and manner.
(c)If
more than $25,000,000 is available for the program under this section for any
fiscal year, the Secretary shall allocate 75 percent of the total amount of
funds available according to subsection (b)(3), and shall award the remaining
25 percent on a competitive basis to the States with the proposals the
Secretary considers most likely to encourage the widespread adoption of
photovoltaic technologies.
(d)Not
later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and in each
subsequent fiscal year for the life of the program, the Secretary shall solicit
proposals from the States to participate in the program under this
section.
(e)In awarding funds in a competitive allocation under
subsection (c), the Secretary shall consider—
(1)the likelihood of a
proposal to encourage the demonstration of, or lower the costs of, advanced
photovoltaic technologies; and
(2)the extent to which a
proposal is likely to—
(A)maximize the amount of
photovoltaics demonstrated;
(B)maximize the proportion
of non-Federal cost share; and
(C)limit State
administrative costs.
(f)A program operated by a State with funding under this
section shall provide competitive awards for the demonstration of advanced
photo-voltaic technologies. Each State program shall—
(1)require a contribution of
at least 60 percent per award from non-Federal sources, which may include any
combination of State, local, and private funds, except that at least 10 percent
of the funding must be supplied by the State;
(2)endeavor to fund
recipients in the commercial, industrial, institutional, governmental, and
residential sectors;
(3)limit State
administrative costs to no more than 10 percent of the grant;
(4)report annually to the
Secretary on—
(A)the amount of funds
disbursed;
(B)the amount of
photovoltaics purchased; and
(C)the results of the
monitoring under paragraph (5);
(5)provide for measurement
and verification of the output of a representative sample of the photovoltaics
systems demonstrated throughout the average working life of the systems, or at
least 20 years; and
(6)require that applicant
buildings must have received an independent energy efficiency audit during the
6-month period preceding the filing of the application.
(g)If a State fails to expend any funds received under
subsection (b) or (c) within 3 years of receipt, such remaining funds shall be
returned to the Treasury.
(h)The
Secretary shall report to Congress 5 years after funds are first distributed to
the States under this section—
(1)the amount of
photovoltaics demonstrated;
(2)the number of projects
undertaken;
(3)the administrative costs
of the program;
(4)the amount of funds that
each State has not received because of a failure to submit a qualifying
proposal, as described in subsection (b)(3);
(5)the results of the
monitoring under subsection (f)(5); and
(6)the total amount of funds
distributed, including a breakdown by State.
(i)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary for the purposes of carrying out this section—
(1)$15,000,000 for fiscal
year 2008;
(2)$30,000,000 for fiscal
year 2009;
(3)$45,000,000 for fiscal
year 2010;
(4)$60,000,000 for fiscal
year 2011; and
(5)$70,000,000 for fiscal
year 2012.
August 3, 2007
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of
the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be
printed