[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3460 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``10 Million Solar Roofs Act of 
2010''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Eligible participant.--The term ``eligible 
        participant'' means--
                    (A) an owner of a home;
                    (B) a business entity;
                    (C) a local educational agency; and
                    (D) any other individual or entity that the 
                Secretary determines to be appropriate.
            (2) Installed nameplate capacity.--The term ``installed 
        nameplate capacity'' means the maximum output of a solar 
        electric system under specific conditions designated by the 
        manufacturer of the solar electric system.
            (3) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational 
        agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 9101 of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        7801).
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.
            (5) Solar energy system.--The term ``solar energy system'' 
        means rooftop or ground-mounted solar equipment--
                    (A) that is used to generate electricity or heat 
                water; and
                    (B) with an installed nameplate capacity not 
                exceeding 1 megawatt or the thermal equivalent of 1 
                megawatt.

SEC. 3. REBATES, LOANS, AND OTHER INCENTIVES FOR PURCHASE AND 
              INSTALLATION OF SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS.

    (a) In General.--As soon as practicable after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a program under which the 
Secretary shall provide funds to States to provide rebates, loans, or 
other incentives to eligible participants for the purchase and 
installation of solar energy systems for properties located in the 
United States.
    (b) Allocation.--For each of fiscal years 2012 through 2020, the 
Secretary shall provide funds to States in accordance with the 
allocation formula used to allocate funds to States to carry out State 
energy conservation plans under part D of title III of the Energy 
Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6321 et seq.).
    (c) States Not Receiving Funds.--
            (1) Duty of states.--Any State that does not elect to 
        receive funds provided under this section shall submit to the 
        Secretary written notification of the decision of the State not 
        to receive the funds.
            (2) Duty of secretary.--Upon the receipt of written 
        notification by a State under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
        shall redistribute the funds that the State would have received 
        to each other State that elects to receive funds provided under 
        this section in accordance with the allocation formula 
        described in subsection (b).
    (d) Implementation.--
            (1) Authorized use of funds.--Subject to subsection (e), 
        each State may use funds received under this section to expand 
        an existing, or establish and fund a new--
                    (A) State solar rebate program;
                    (B) solar loan program;
                    (C) solar performance-based incentive program; or
                    (D) solar incentive program or innovative solar 
                financing program not described in subparagraphs (A) 
                through (C), as determined by the Secretary.
            (2) Program requirements.--For each fiscal year during 
        which a State uses funds provided under this section for a use 
        described in paragraph (1), the State shall--
                    (A) certify to the Secretary that the funds will be 
                used--
                            (i) to supplement, expand, or create new 
                        programs (and will not supplant existing 
                        programs as to maximize program participation); 
                        and
                            (ii) to deploy an increased quantity of 
                        solar energy systems; and
                    (B) submit to the Secretary an annual 
                implementation plan that contains--
                            (i) projections for solar energy systems 
                        deployment;
                            (ii) data regarding the number of eligible 
                        participants that are assisted under existing 
                        applicable State programs; and
                            (iii) projections for--
                                    (I) additional solar energy system 
                                deployment; and
                                    (II) the number of additional 
                                eligible participants for the fiscal 
                                year following the fiscal year covered 
                                by the annual implementation plan.
    (e) Solar Energy System.--With respect to each State that receives 
funds under this section, the Secretary may specify the type and 
capacity of the solar energy system that the State may use.
    (f) Non-Federal Share.--Each State that receives funds under this 
section shall be responsible for an amount equal to 20 percent of the 
amount of the provided funds.
    (g) Administrative Expenses.--Not more than 5 percent of the 
amounts made available for each fiscal year under this section may be 
used to pay the administrative expenses of the Department of Energy 
that the Secretary determines to be necessary to carry out this Act 
(including expenses arising from monitoring and evaluation).
    (h) Relationship to Other Law.--An eligible participant that 
receives a rebate under this section shall not be eligible for a rebate 
under section 206(c) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 
15853).
    (i) Coordination; Consultation.--To the maximum extent practicable, 
the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of the Treasury and the 
Governor of each State that receives funds under this section to ensure 
that each program carried out by each State through the use of the 
funds is coordinated with each other applicable incentive or financing 
program of the Federal Government or any other State.
    (j) Goal.--It is the aspiration and goal of the United States, 
through this Act or any appropriate incentive or research and 
development program, to install distributed solar energy systems on not 
less than 10,000,000 properties located in the United States by January 
1, 2020.
    (k) Report Regarding Additional Recommendations.--Not later than 
270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 
and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives a report that contains additional recommendations that 
the Secretary determines to be necessary to achieve the goal described 
in subsection (j), including any modification to the program 
established under subsection (a).
    (l) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section--
            (1) for fiscal year 2012, $250,000,000; and
            (2) for each of fiscal years 2013 through 2020, such sums 
        as are necessary.
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