This bill creates financial incentives to decrease the capital costs of purchasing and installing rooftop solar and solar hot water heating systems. Additional benefits cited in the bill include increasing national security and promoting green jobs to create substantial economic gains. The bill builds upon the success of existing state programs in California and New Jersey for solar photovoltaic systems as well as in Hawaii and Florida for solar hot water heating systems. Over the next 10 years, the bill defines a goal of installing an additional 10,000,000 solar electricity systems, amounting to a cumulative capacity of 30,000 megawatts. For solar hot water heating systems, the bill calls for at least 200,000 additional systems, amounting to a cumulative capacity of 10,000,000 gallons. The bill would establish two rebate programs: one for rooftop solar photovoltaic systems and one for solar hot water heating systems. The payment schedules for both rebate programs are subject to adjustment by the secretary of energy to ensure deployment or to respond to market conditions.
The group addressed the science behind the proposed solution: solar photovoltaic systems and solar water heaters used to reduce negative environmental impacts. They analyzed the scientific issues and controversies of solar electric generation and did a quantitative analysis of the effectiveness of the policy outlined in this bill. At the prior midterm briefing presentations, this group had addressed the science behind several environmental problems touched on in the bill, including the emission of harmful greenhouse gases, the negative effects of fossil fuel extraction and combustion, and the inherent inefficiencies in electricity production and transportation.