42 U.S.C. § 5554 : US Code - Section 5554: Solar energy resource determination and assessment program; objectives; implementation

Search 42 U.S.C. § 5554 : US Code - Section 5554: Solar energy resource determination and assessment program; objectives; implementation

(a) The Chairman shall initiate a solar energy resource
determination and assessment program with the objective of making a
regional and national appraisal of all solar energy resources,
including data on insolation, wind, sea thermal gradients, and
potentials for photosynthetic conversion. The program shall
emphasize identification of promising areas for commercial
exploitation and development. The specific goals shall include -
(1) the development of better methods for predicting the
availability of all solar energy resources, over long time
periods and by geographic location;
(2) the development of advanced meteorological, oceanographic,
and other instruments, methodology, and procedures necessary to
measure the quality and quantity of all solar resources on
periodic bases;
(3) the development of activities, arrangements, and procedures
for the collection, evaluation, and dissemination of information
and data relating to solar energy resource assessment.
(b) The Chairman, acting through the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, and other appropriate agencies, shall -
(1) develop and carry out a general plan for inventorying all
forms of solar energy resources associated with Federal lands and
(where consistent with property rights) non-Federal lands;
(2) conduct regional surveys based upon such general plan,
using innovative meteorological, oceanographic, and space-related
techniques, in sufficient numbers to lead to a national inventory
of solar energy resources in the United States;
(3) publish and make available maps, reports, and other
documents developed from such surveys to encourage and facilitate
the commercial development of solar energy resources; and
(4) make such recommendations for legislation as may appear to
be necessary to establish policies for solar resources involving
Federal lands and waters, consistent with known inventories of
various resource types, with the state of technologies for solar
energy development, and with evaluation of the environmental
impacts of such development.