We’re excited that 20 teams have been selected and announced as Solar Prize Round 5 Software Track Ready! Contest semifinalists by the U.S. Department of Energy. Each of these teams won a $30,000 cash prize and are now eligible to advance to the Set! Contest. Additionally, eight teams received a prize for winning the optional Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Contest.

The Software Track semifinalist technologies includes innovations in five subject areas: finance and business models, systems operations, system design, other analytical tools, and workforce development. Here are the Round 5 Software Track semifinalists:

Finance and Business Models

  • Accelerating Capital into U.S. Commercial Solar (Pasadena, CA) – JEDI Contest winner
  • Facilitating Donations of Second-Life Solar Panels (Sheridan, WY) – JEDI Contest winner
  • Solar as a Tool for Building Community Wealth (Oakland, CA) – JEDI Contest winner
  • Solar Stewards Marketplace (Atlanta, GA) – JEDI Contest winner
  • The Solar Equity Platform (Boston, MA) – JEDI Contest winner
  • Voluntary Carbon Offsets for Rooftop Solar (San Francisco, CA) – JEDI Contest winner

System Operations

  • Democratizing Photovoltaic Monitoring at Community Scale (Atlanta, GA)
  • illu - Illuminating Operations and Maintenance for Distributed Solar (Sunnyvale, CA)
  • Merging the Real and Digital Worlds Through a Cyber-Physical-Social Platform for Microgrids (Buffalo, NY) – JEDI Contest winner
  • Solar Nowcasting With Machine Learning (Honolulu, HI)
  • Solarcast and Solarcheck (SC2) (San Antonio, TX)
  • SolarGrade: Enabling Superpowers for On-Site Teams (Carlsbad, CA)

System Design

  • Sandbox Agrivoltaics: Design and Artificial Intelligence for Agriculture + Photovoltaic Design (Fort Collins, CO)
  • Solar River: Covering and Powering Canals with Solar (Bisbee, AZ)
  • SolarSpace: Siting and Construction Optimization (Albuquerque, NM)

Other Analytical Tools

  • Artificial Intelligence Power Management and Sizing Software Packages (Los Angeles, CA)
  • Building a Climate Sustainable Solar Energy Future (Fremont, CA)
  • Photovoltaic Module Health Check Using Electroluminescence and Artificial Intelligence (Orlando, FL)
  • SolarSpace E-Management Platform (Tucson, AZ)

Workforce Development

  • ECademy: Online School To Train Solar Installers (Baltimore, MD) – JEDI Contest winner

Learn more about each submission by checking out the HeroX Community tab and view the Hardware Track semifinalists, too.

There were numerous, impressive submissions to the Ready! Contest. In fact, we received more than 175 submissions from across the country between both Round 5 tracks. Many of these were great ideas but needed additional development and refinement to advance to the next level. 

If you submitted an idea and were not chosen as a semifinalist, we encourage you to keep innovating and looking for opportunities to improve your idea. In the coming weeks, you will receive an e-mail from the prize administrator with comments and feedback on your submission from the judges who reviewed it.

Additional Funding Opportunities

We also suggest applying to U.S. Department of Energy’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) funding program. Through SBIR/STTR, small businesses can receive up to $200,000 to engage in high-risk, innovative research and development with the potential for commercialization. Learn more about the current funding opportunities and how to submit a letter of intent by Jan. 3, 2022.

Several Power Connectors are providing resources and education to help you successfully apply for SBIR/STTR. Learn more and find support by attending one of these upcoming events or reaching out to one of the supporting Power Connectors

Thank You for Your Participation

We want to thank all teams for competing in the Solar Prize Round 5 Ready! Contest and hope you continue to be an active member of the Solar Prize community. Please continue to utilize the American-Made Network to improve your ideas and watch for other opportunities to make them a reality by signing up for our American-Made Challenges Newsletter

Should you have questions, please feel free to reach out at . Congratulations, again, to the Round 5 semifinalists!