KGUN9.com, October 7, 2009
Written by: Marcy Jones

WASHINGTON -The Solar Technology Roadmap Act , headed by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is currently on its way to the full House, after earning powerful  bipartisan support today from her colleagues on the Science and Technology Committee.

The voice-vote approval of the bill was held this afternoon and was eagerly welcomed by one of Arizona’s finest solar energy researchers, Dr. Roger Angel.

Angel who is currently a professor of astronomy and optical sciences at the University of Arizona, said “The United States has the potential to produce much of its electricity from solar energy in Arizona and the deserts of the Southwest.”

Adding that “Congresswoman Giffords’ Solar Technology Roadmap Act will help turn this dream into reality with the creation of a plan to guide solar energy research. Among the many beneficiaries of this plan would be the University of Arizona, where we are already working to develop sustainable photovoltaic technology optimized for very large scale production.”

Giffords’ legislation requires that the U.S. Department of Energy to appoint a group of experts to create long-term tactics to “guide solar energy research and its transition into commercial uses”.

The group would not only identify specific research and development that is needed to enhance the performance and consistency of solar technologies, but also decrease cost, reduce water use, and mitigate any negative environmental impacts.

The group’s itinerary would consequently be subject to a comprehensive revision every three years to keep it current.
In part, the legislation also authorizes a budget of $2.25 billion for solar research, to be used over the next five years.

In observations of the committee before today’s vote, Giffords compared the nation’s solar industry today, with our semiconductor industry of the 1980s.

“Twenty years ago, the U.S. was in danger of losing its semiconductor industry to Japan,” the congresswoman said.

“In response, the industry created the Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. The focus of this initiative was creating a roadmap to guide research and development efforts across the industry. By increasing communication between the diverse members of the supply chain, the U.S. semiconductor industry was able to develop standards and avoid the duplication of research efforts. These organized coordination efforts gave rise to U.S. semiconductor giants such as Intel and AMD, and the U.S. continues to lead the world in semiconductor development.”

Also stating that “Today, solar researchers in the U.S. are in a similar situation,” she said. “To maintain a competitive advantage they must come together to meet their common, precompetitive goals – whether in simulation, developing new materials, energy storage, power and grid management, mounting, or even weather forecasting.”

Giffords then noted that her bill would require the Department of Energy to engage more diverse stakeholders in the solar community and work across programs to create a comprehensive plan, “a roadmap”  in which to guide funding for the research needed to make the U.S. the global center for solar innovation.

“The roadmap would be required to identify short-, medium- and long-term goals and make recommendations for how to channel research and development resources to meet those goals,” she said. “It will make the Department of Energy more responsive to our solar industry’s needs and encourage increased collaboration and communication across technologies with well-vetted strategies” Giffords concluded.