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American-Made Program

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Community Power Accelerator Round 2

Fast-tracks the efforts of solar developers to learn and grow their operations to support multiple, successful community solar projects.

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Energy, Environment & Resources Government
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prize:
$10,000,000

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Energy, Environment & Resources Government
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Overview

The American-Made Community Power Accelerator Prize is a $10 million prize competition designed to fast-track the efforts of new, emerging, and expanding solar developers and co-developers to learn, participate, and grow their operations to support multiple successful community solar projects. 

After a successful launch of the Community Power Accelerator Prize in early 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office is excited to open the prize for Round 2. Applicants who applied to Round 1 are encouraged to apply again in Round 2 with updated submission materials.

The goal of Round 2 remains the same as Round 1—grow a robust ecosystem of community solar project developers that incorporate meaningful benefits into projects across the United States.

Structured to Accelerate Community Solar Investments

Round 2 of this three-phase prize aims to increase the number of equitable community solar projects by providing funding and resources for developers and co-developers throughout the project pre-development process, including: 

  • Tools and resources to connect developers with private sector project financing for community solar projects using a standardized process.
  • Training to understand the full cycle of community solar development, including site acquisition, community relations, customer acquisition, securing financing, costs, and the unique challenges and benefits of a community solar model.
  • Free consulting services to competitors on the steps necessary to get a community solar project financed.
  • Coaching on expanding developers’ solar customer markets to include low- and moderate-income populations, and local workforce development, as well as increase resilience to power outages and household savings to make community solar projects attractive to the widest range of customers possible.  

By the end of the prize, competitors will be ready to engage with the Community Power Accelerator online platform, which provides a place for competitors to shop their credit-ready projects around to verified project developers, investors, and philanthropic organizations.

Informational Webinars

On Aug. 1 and Sept. 19, prize administrators will hold informational webinars on the Community Power Accelerator Prize. During the webinar, we’ll provide participants with an overview of the prize, submission requirements, scoring criteria, and winner selection process. Prize administrators will also answer audience questions. 

View the recordings of the August informational webinar and September informational webinar on HeroX. 

Community Power Accelerator Round 2 Prize Phases

Prize Phase

Duration

Anticipated Number of Awards

Dollar Amounts 

Phase 1: Ready!

3 Months

Up to 25

$50,000 per winning competitor 

(total prize pool: $1,250,000)

Phase 2: Set! 

4-7 months (anticipated)

Up to 25

$200,000 per winning competitor 

(total prize pool: $5,000,000)

Phase 3: Grow!

4-7 months (anticipated)

Up to 25

$150,000 per winning competitor

(total prize pool: $3,750,000)

The Five Meaningful Benefits of Community Solar

One of the key goals of the Community Power Accelerator Prize is to support and grow a robust ecosystem of community solar project developers that incorporate meaningful benefits into projects across the United States. These benefits provided by community solar subscriptions can build consumer trust and ensure that everyone can participate in the clean energy transition. 

The Community Power Accelerator Prize provides funding and resources to empower developers to deploy community solar projects that provide at least two of the following five meaningful benefits to subscribers and their communities:

  • Access and Consumer Protections 
  • Meaningful Household Savings 
  • Resilience, Storage, and Grid Benefits
  • Community-Led Economic Development
  • Solar Workforce Development

Powering Change Beyond the Prize

This prize is part of the larger Community Power Accelerator program, an initiative of the U.S. Department of Energy National Community Solar Partnership. It brings together investors, philanthropic organizations, developers, community-based organizations, and technical experts in one online ecosystem to accelerate the deployment of the funds needed to drive the clean energy transition. 

The Community Power Accelerator online platform will create a pipeline of credit-ready community solar projects—particularly those that provide benefits to underserved communities—and connect them with mission-aligned investors and philanthropic organizations to get funding.

The prize supports this initiative by providing funding and resources to stand up or expand community solar project development practices and develop a pipeline of multiple projects for new community solar project developers. 

Who Can Compete? 

Round 2 of the Community Power Accelerator Prize is open to U.S. community solar developers, including new developers, co-developers (organizations who are partnering with a project developer), or developers who are expanding their community solar operations. 

The prize encourages organizations who are new to community solar development to apply to this prize, including (but are not limited to): 

  • Community-based organizations (such as local community health organizations, community action agencies, community, and economic development organizations etc.) that have real estate portfolios and/or are in construction
  • Multifamily affordable housing providers
  • State, local, and municipal governments
  • Intermediary organizations such as community development financial institutions (CDFIs)
  • General contractors with roofing and/or electrical experience  
  • Other large real estate holders that could be available for solar deployment
  • Solar co-developers

Guidelines

Please review the Official Rules for the complete application process and instructions for competing.

If you want to receive updates on the prize or have any questions, please subscribe by using the contact feature on the HeroX platform or message us directly at communitypower@nrel.gov.

The American-Made Community Power Accelerator Prize is directed and administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. Learn more.

Disclaimer

Note the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is evaluating all funding opportunities, including prize challenges, to ensure appropriate resources are allocated efficiently, and that the Department's initiatives are in line with the statutory mission of DOE and the policies and priorities of the Administration and DOE. DOE is undertaking this evaluation in accordance with all laws, regulations, and fiscal responsibility, as efficiently as possible.

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Timeline
Updates16

Challenge Updates

Seven Additional Teams Move on to Round 2 Phase 3!

Jan. 16, 2025, 10:34 a.m. PST by NREL Prize Moderator

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office today announced the seven additional teams moving on to Phase 3 of the Community Power Accelerator Prize Round 2. Winning teams will receive a $200,000 cash prize for completing the phase requirements and begin working toward their Phase 3 goals. 

In the final phase of this competition, teams are challenged with securing 100% investment of their community solar portfolio of 2+ projects that equal in aggregate of at least 1 MW, and each of which include at least two of the Five Meaningful Benefits. Competitors that meet the Phase 3 requirements will be awarded a cash prize of $150,000.

Congratulations to the following teams:

  • Citizen Energy, LLC (Washington, D.C.)
  • Enterprise Community Development (Silver Spring, MD)
  • Mississippi Energy Developers  (Lena, MS)
  • OneEnergy Renewables (Seattle, WA)
  • Powerhouse Energy 360 (Atlanta, GA)
  • Prosperity Works (Albuquerque, NM)
  • Tribuquent (Bradenton, FL)

Learn more about the innovative teams moving on to Phase 3 in the Teams tab, and find detailed information about their Phase 3 deliverables in the Official Rules.

Plus, stay tuned to find out who will be named a Phase 3 winner for Round 2! (Winner announcements will occur throughout the following year.) And don’t forget to follow Round 3 of the Community Power Accelerator Prize on HeroX to see which organizations will be crowned Phase 1 winners for their groundbreaking solutions and impactful plans to expand solar across the U.S. in the coming years.   

Now Open: Community Power Accelerator Prize Round 3

Sept. 25, 2024, 7 a.m. PDT by NREL Prize Moderator

Another round of the $10 million Community Power Accelerator Prize has officially launched and is now open for applications. Round 3 of this three-phase prize is designed to fast-track the efforts of new, emerging, and expanding solar developers and codevelopers to grow multiple successful community-benefiting distributed solar projects.

Round 3 of the prize seeks organizations that have the desire and ambition to develop and finance a portfolio of two or more projects that, in aggregate, total at least 1 MW AC of distributed solar generation. To be eligible, no single portfolio project may exceed 5 MW AC. Distributed solar projects may include but are not limited to:

  • Community solar
  • Behind-the-meter virtual power plants (VPPs)
  • Distributed energy resource (DER) aggregations
  • Microgrids
  • Commercial and industrial (C&I) solar 
  • Multifamily projects.

Can I apply to Round 3 if I’ve applied to other rounds of the prize in the past?

Organizations that have previously won only Round 1 Phase 1 or Round 2 Phase 1 of the Community Power Accelerator Prize are eligible to compete but must include a new portfolio of projects. Organizations that have previously won Round 1 Phase 2 or Round 2 Phase 2 are not eligible to compete in Round 3.

How can I learn more information about the prize?

Follow the prize on HeroX to stay up to date on the latest announcements, and don’t forget to register for one of the two upcoming Round 3 Informational Webinars.

Applicants must upload a Phase 1 submission package by Dec. 17 at 5 p.m. ET to be in the running for a Phase 1 prize and move on to Phase 2. 

Six Phase 2 Teams Advance to Phase 3

Aug. 15, 2024, 8:40 a.m. PDT by NREL Prize Moderator

Congratulations to the first six teams moving on from Phase 2 to Phase 3 of the Community Power Accelerator Prize Round 2! Each teams’ submission was thoroughly evaluated by our panel of expert reviewers to ensure all materials met the Phase 2 “pass” criteria, including the completion of the Community Power Accelerator Learning Lab course.  

Winning teams will receive a $200,000 cash prize for completing the phase requirements and begin working toward the Phase 3 goals. In the final phase of this prize, teams are challenged with securing 100% investment of their community solar portfolio of 2+ projects that equal in aggregate of at least 1 MW, and each of which include at least two of the Five Meaningful Benefits. 

Organization 

MW 

Project Location 

Aardex Corporation 

2.43 

Arkansas 

Clean Slate Solar and Housing Initiative Partnership 

1.67 

Maryland 

Ecological Citizen's Project 

2.112 

New York 

Monadnock Energy 

2 

New Hampshire 

Reactivate 

5.80 

Illinois 

SolarRay Farms 

2.278 

Oregon 

 

The 19 teams remaining in Phase 2 have until October 16 at 5 p.m. ET to submit their submission materials for the opportunity to move on to Phase 3.  

Congratulations winning teams! 

Congratulations to the 25 Round 2 Phase 1 Winning Teams!

Jan. 10, 2024, 7:40 a.m. PST by NREL Prize Administrator

DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office today announced the 25 Phase 1 winning teams of the Community Power Accelerator Prize Round 2. Each team will receive a $50,000 cash prize and the opportunity to compete in Phase 2.  

After a successful launch of the Community Power Accelerator Prize Round 1 in early 2023, the prize administrators were impressed by the enthusiastic response to Round 2 of the prize, as well. With more than 75 distinguished applications submitted to Round 2, the prize judges were challenged to choose only 25 winning teams.  

Read a brief summary of the winning submissions below and find more about each team here.  

Aardex Corporation, Empowering Communities: Solar Equity for All(Colorado and Arkansas)

Citizen Energy (Avanza Sun), Solarize Low-Income Multifamily Latino Communities (Maryland)

Clean Slate Solar and Housing Initiative, Equitable CommUnity Solar Alliance (Maryland)

Cooperative Energy Futures, Equitable Community Solar-the Cooperative Model (Minnesota)

Ecological Citizen’s Project, Solar for Social Good - Hudson Valley (New York)

Energy Conservation Works, Cowboy Community Solar (Wyoming)

Enterprise Community Development, Enterprise Community Solar (Maryland)

Green Door Initiative, Motor City to Solar City (Michigan) 

Hoʻāhu Energy Cooperative Molokai, Energy Sovereignty on Molokai (Hawaii)

ICAST, Equitable Community Solar for Tribal Nations(Virginia and New Mexico)

Minneapolis Climate Action, Community Solar EmPOWERing our City and People (Minnesota)

Mississippi Energy Developers, Mississippi Community Solar for Rural Areas (Mississippi)

Monadnock Energy, Scaling Community Solar for LMI in New Hampshire (New Hampshire) 

OneEnergy Renewables, Silver Buckshot (Maryland and Ohio)

Piedmont Housing Alliance, Piedmont Solar (Virginia)

Powerhouse Energy 360, Brightening every Community with Solar (Georgia)

Premier Energy, High Plains Community Microgrids (Nebraska)

Prosperity Works, Expand access to low income New Mexicans (New Mexico) 

RAMP Solar, LLC, RAMP Solar: Creating energy, food and jobs in LA (California)

Reactivate DevCo, LLC, Community benefits through community solar (Illinois)

Rivertown Solar, Solar Savings for LMI Customers in Westchester, NY (New York)

Sien, Inc., Central Valley Clean Energy (California)

SolaRay Farms, Inc., SolaRay Farms (Oregon)

The Point, Hunts Point Community Solar (New York)

Tribuquent, Feather Light Energy Project (Oklahoma and Minnesota)

Phase 2 winners of the Community Power Accelerator Prize Round 2 are planned to be announced August 2024.  

Thank you to all who applied!  

 

New Prize Email Address

Dec. 5, 2023, 11:06 a.m. PST by NREL Prize Administrator

Hey, competitors! 

Round 2 of the Community Power Accelerator Prize has a new email address for competitors to send any prize-related questions or comments: communitypower@nrel.gov. If you’re currently emailing with a prize administrator, you may see the previous prize email included (solar.prize@nrel.gov) but this address should no longer be used for new correspondence.

Additional Resources

Don’t forget, competitors can also utilize the Forum Tab on HeroX to raise questions and a prize administrator will publicly answer them as soon as possible. Plus, the Official Rules document has key information, including details on submission scoring and prize phases. 

Thank you!

Forum15
Teams400
Entries
Resources
FAQ