The paper describes the Interdisciplinary Program for Research and Development of Solar Energy implemented in 1975 by C. N. R. S. This program, which has claimed to demonstrate the possibility of significant applications of solar energy, covers the following topics: solar houses; thermodynamical conversion; bioconversion; thermochemistry; ecology; and solar energy economics. Particular attention is given to chemical studies which might contribute to the development of these projects, at the level of transfer and chemical storage of energy, production of other energetical carriers than electricity, and materials manufacture by thermochemistry.