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American-Made Challenges

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Heliostat Prize

The American-Made Heliostat Prize is a 3-contest challenge designed to accelerate technology innovation of selected heliostat components.

This challenge is closed

Energy, Environment & Resources Science Technology
stage:
Submission Deadline
prize:
$3,000,000

This challenge is closed

Energy, Environment & Resources Science Technology
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Summary
Timeline
Updates7
Forum10
Teams239
Resources
FAQ
Summary
Overview Guidelines

Overview

New energy technologies are reshaping the national and global energy landscape. Increased deployment of solar technology will require flexible and dispatchable generation and energy storage technologies, like concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) with thermal energy storage, to ensure reliability of the grid. Achieving these targets will depend heavily on reducing the cost of heliostats – which track the sun and reflect light, concentrating it on a receiver – to $50/m2, while improving technical performance, from an existing baseline of approximately $96-$127/m2. 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) is seeking to reduce the cost of heliostats, in this prize, by specifically focusing on reducing the cost, or validating the performance of novel components. This prize is designed to accelerate heliostat component technology innovation through the design, development, demonstration, and eventual commercialization of selected heliostat components.

 

 

 

Guidelines

Please review the Official Rules for the complete application process and instructions for competing. The rules document can be downloaded by following this link or by visiting the 'Resources' tab on our HeroX page. 

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Timeline

Challenge Timeline

start
April 25, 2023, 9:08 a.m. PDT
Date Launched
May 9, 2023, 8 a.m. PDT
Enter
Concept Contest Opens
June 14, 2023, 11 p.m. PDT
Informational Webinar
Learn more about the U.S. Department of Energy's American-Made Heliostat Prize during an informational webinar at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, June 15. Prize representatives will be available to discuss the program, timeline, and answer questions. We will also share a recording of the webinar on the HeroX page afterward for those who are unable to attend.

Register online: https://nrel.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItcO6rrToiHxZ0kQSzWKz_KB8p-z9ykeg
Sept. 1, 2023, 2 p.m. PDT
Submission Deadline
Concept Contest Deadline
Nov. 16, 2023, 10 a.m. PST
Anticipated Winner Announcement - Concept Contest
Anticipated Winner Announcement - Concept Contest
Nov. 16, 2023, 11 a.m. PST
Enter
Design Contest Opens (anticipated)
April 5, 2024, 2 p.m. PDT
Submission Deadline
Design Contest Deadline (anticipated)
April 24, 2024, 9:37 p.m. PDT
You are here
May 14, 2024, 8 a.m. PDT
Finalists Announced
Design Contest Winners Announcement (anticipated spring 2024)
May 14, 2024, 9 a.m. PDT
Enter
Assess Contest Opens (anticipated)
Nov. 15, 2024, 2 p.m. PST
Submission Deadline
Assess Contest Deadline (anticipated)
finish
Dec. 13, 2024, 8 a.m. PST
Won
Assess Contest Winners Announcement (anticipated winter 2024)
Updates7

Challenge Updates

Semifinalists Announced

Nov. 16, 2023, 10:45 a.m. PST by Patrick Hayes

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced nine semifinalists for the American-Made Heliostat Prize. The semifinalists are:

  • Heliogen
  • Idealab-SwRI CSP Innovators
  • KVA Technologies
  • Low-Profile Disc Tracker Genesis
  • Mark Ayres Engineering
  • Multiscale Systems
  • Quantum Optics Applied Research
  • Solar Dynamics
  • Stellenergy

Learn more about the semifinalists and their projects here. Congratulations to the selectees and thank you to all the teams who submitted proposals in the competitive process! We look forward to sharing more information about the next phase of the competition soon.

2 comments

Seminfinalist selection

Nov. 9, 2023, 7:55 a.m. PST by Patrick Hayes

Thank you for your patience as we work to finalize semifinalist selections for the American-Made Heliostat Prize. We are still working behind the scenes on final approvals and will release that information as soon as possible. 

2 comments

Phase 1 Deadline is TOMORROW!!

Aug. 30, 2023, 11:17 a.m. PDT by Patrick Hayes

The submission deadline for Phase 1 of the American-Made Heliostat Prize is TOMORROW -- August 31, 2023. As a reminder, several resources are available on the HeroX page to help teams finalize their submissions, including a contest submission template, the rules document, key dates, a recording of a webinar from the Heliostat Prize team, and a forum where questions can be asked, are all available on the competition’s HeroX page. Questions can also be emailed to . 

1 comment

Phase 1 Deadline Approaching August 31!

Aug. 23, 2023, 9:10 a.m. PDT by Patrick Hayes

The submission deadline for Phase 1 of the American-Made Heliostat Prize is August 31. Several resources are available on the HeroX page to help teams finalize their submissions, including a contest submission template, the rules document, key dates, a recording of a webinar from the Heliostat Prize team, and a forum where questions can be asked, are all available on the competition’s HeroX page. Questions can also be emailed to . 

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Heliostat Prize Webinar on June 15

June 13, 2023, 12:08 p.m. PDT by Patrick Hayes

Learn more about the U.S. Department of Energy's American-Made Heliostat Prize during an informational webinar at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, June 15. Prize representatives will be available to discuss the program, timeline, and answer questions. We will also share a recording of the webinar on the HeroX page afterward for those who are unable to attend.

Register online: https://nrel.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItcO6rrToiHxZ0kQSzWKz_KB8p-z9ykeg

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Forum10
Teams239
Resources
FAQ