There is established, under direction of the Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Solar Energy of DOE, an appropriate technology small grants program for the purpose of encouraging development and demonstration of, and the dissemination of information with respect to, energy-related systems and supporting technologies appropriate to—

(a) The needs of local communities and the enhancement of community self-reliance through the use of available resources;

(b) The use of renewable resources and the conservation of non-renewable resources;

(c) The use of existing technologies applied to novel situations and uses;

(d) Applications which are energy conserving, environmentally sound, small scale and low cost; and

(e) Applications which demonstrate simplicity of installation, operation and maintenance.