Department of Energy launches new contest for solar energy innovation

U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry announced the launch of a new award to encourage innovation and help revitalize U.S. solar manufacturing.

It will be known as the American-Made Solar Prize, a competition for entrepreneurs to develop ideas into concepts that improve the solar industry.

Individuals and teams will compete through a series of three contests to develop new products to be made in America. Competitors will have access to resources through a network of national labs, incubators, investors, and industry experts.

There is the Ready! Contest, where winners will be selected after identifying an impactful idea or solution addressing a critical need in America’s solar industry. The award is up to $50,000.

Then there is the Set! Contest, where competitors will work to advance their technology solution toward a viable proof of concept. The award is up to $200,000.

Finally, there is the Go! Contest, where competitors will work to advance their solution from proof of concept to a refined prototype and find a partner to perform a pilot test. The award for this contest is up to $500,000.

The award funding comes from the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

“The Administration is fully committed to strengthening America’s manufacturing competitiveness,” Perry said. “The Solar Prize brings together the nation’s best-in-class research resources, unparalleled entrepreneurial support system, and competitive, American spirit to create new innovations primed for private investment.”

Participants can be individuals, representatives of a company, university students or professors, small business owners, or researchers at a national laboratory, as long as they are based in the U.S. To participate, competitors must submit applications by Oct. 5, 2018, to www.herox.com/SolarPrize.

“We share this administration’s desire for strong American solar manufacturing, and this prize competition is a good way to spur innovative ideas,” Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said. “The U.S. solar industry is a leader in entrepreneurship and ingenuity, and we support efforts like these that can pave the way to competitiveness for American companies.”