The Equitable and Affordable Solutions to Electrification (EAS-E) Home Electrification Prize provides up to $2.4 million in prizes for innovative solutions that advance electrification retrofits of residential homes across all building types and geographies.
Home electrification is an essential component to reducing carbon emissions. By replacing fuel-burning appliances with electric products, often including heat pump technologies, buildings have the ability to run on clean, renewable energy.
The goal of the EAS-E Prize is to support a suite of design solutions, tools, and/or technology innovations that make electrification more affordable and accessible in existing U.S. homes. Through this prize, the U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office aims to create more opportunities and successes for electrification of the U.S. housing stock with a focus on equitable solutions for all homeowners—not only through affordability, but also by enabling solutions specific to dwellings more common in low-income and under-resourced communities. In some homes, load reduction strategies (e.g., building envelope upgrades) can also improve the reliability, affordability, and performance of electrification upgrades.
Design solutions/tools and technology innovations are eligible for the prize, with the goal to spur an ecosystem of products and approaches that work for every homeowner ready to make the switch. Low-power electrification solutions that limit the electricity demand of individual appliances or the whole dwelling (e.g., by avoiding electrical panel upgrades or controlling coincident loads) are strongly encouraged, because of their potential benefits to the project cost and speed of installation and their wider grid impacts. The innovations developed and launched in response to this prize will benefit the broader housing retrofit market by advancing building electrification solutions that are fast, easy, and scalable.
The EAS-E Home Electrification Prize consists of two phases:
Phase 1.Concept Paper. This phase is focused on presenting the proposed solution(s), comparing them with current practice, forming a capable team, identifying market opportunities, outlining risks, and describing the intended Phase 2 demonstration. Up to five Phase 1 winners will receive a $5,000 cash prize each and will be eligible to compete in Phase 2. Additionally, Phase 1 winners will each receive a $75,000 voucher to work with DOE national laboratories and/or “Connectors” from the American-Made Network that qualify as Voucher Service Providers.
Phase 2. Demonstration. In this phase, winning competitors from Phase 1 will finalize their teams, complete solution design documentation, evaluate the size of the potential market and the commercial viability of the solution, and demonstrate functional prototype solutions. Pilot demonstrations should show that the technology is reliable and capable of broad application, and that it makes a substantial difference in the economic viability of electrifying the homes in question. Up to three prizes will be awarded under Phase 2, with a top prize of $1 million. The remaining prize pool will be shared equally between the other Phase 2 winners.
The competition is open to individuals; private entities (for-profits and nonprofits); nonfederal government entities such as states, counties, tribes, and municipalities; and academic institutions. More information can be found in the official rules document.
The EAS-E Home Electrification Prize is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technologies Office (BTO), under the authority of the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing Pre-eminence in Technology and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Reauthorization Act of 2010, as amended (15 U.S.C. 3719).
Challenge Guidelines
Please review the official rulesfor the complete application process and instructions for competing.
If you have any questions, please subscribe by using the contact feature on the HeroX platform or message us directly at .
You are encouraged to upload your completed submission well before the deadline to avoid potential delays that may arise due to technical difficulties. Submissions will not be accepted after 3 p.m. ET.
Reach out with questions (), and we look forward to seeing your submissions.
The EAS-E Prize Phase 1 Concept Paper Submission is in one week, on March 8th!
Phase 1 is accepting submissions until 3 pm ET on March 8th. We highly encourage submitting before the 3 pm ET deadline to avoid any technical difficulties. Anyone interested in encouraged to apply. Be sure to view the Official Rules before submitting to be sure you meet all the eligibility criteria and understand the requirements of the submission materials.
If you have any questions about the prize requirements or regarding your specific submission, please , the Power Connector for the EAS-E Prize. They are hosting office hours for all competitors and can provide application support before the final deadline.
The official rules for the EAS-E Prize have been modified to reflect that the Phase 1 Concept Paper has been changed from a public document to a non-public component of the submission package. All other rules and requirements for the Concept Paper remain the same. You can find this update in the modified rules document on pages 18-19.
You can now watch the informational webinar and view the presentation slides in the resources section on HeroX.
All questions received during the webinar will be answered in writing on HeroX. If you have additional questions, please email us at , which will also be posted to HeroX.
If you are interested in applying but have questions about your application or innovation, we highly encourage you to reach out to the Power Connector for this Prize—ADL Ventures. They are available to answer questions, review your materials, and provide helpful feedback as we approach the deadline on March 8.
If you’re considering competing in the EAS-E Prize, join us for an informational webinar tomorrow (January 12) at 1 p.m. ET.
During the webinar we’ll give participants an overview of the EAS-E Prize, submission requirements, scoring criteria, and winner selection process. Competitors will also have an opportunity to ask questions.
Can’t make it? You’ll find the full webinar recording on the Resources page after the event, or you can always post a question to the public Forum to gather feedback from the community and prize administrator. Questions from the webinar will also be posted to the prize FAQ.
Get your questions ready and register now for the EAS-E Prize Informational Webinar tomorrow!