Innovation happens when the right resources, people, and passion come together. With the Solar Prize, teams of creative individuals and entrepreneurs will advance conceptual solutions toward product realities with the support of a unique and powerful network and a chance to win up to $3 million in cash prizes.
A prize competition structured for success
The Solar Prize is an opportunity for anyone interested in accelerating ideas and solutions. The American-Made Network is designed to strengthen and scale the very best ideas and teams through three progressive prize competitions, the Ready! Set! Go! Contests. This network provides the tools and expertise to help projects succeed and is comprised of an unparalleled innovation system. These resources will provide technical insight, product validation, and strategic support to teams throughout the competition.
Competing in the prize is easy!
Identify an important problem you want to solve
Submit a 90-second video describing your challenge and proposed solution, team, and plan
Answer a short, four-question narrative and make a slide about this problem or challenge
Submit a two-page technical assistance request
Update your videos and statements as you advance through the contests.
More than $3 million in incentives for innovation
The Ready! Set! Go! Contests will fast-track efforts to identify, develop, and test disruptive solutions to solar industry needs for a total of $3 million in cash prizes and up to $900,000 in vouchers which can be used at national laboratories and other voucher facilities to develop, test, and validate. Each stage will have a 90-day performance period when participants work to advance their solutions.
Contest
Winners
Prizes
Ready!
Up to 20
Up to $1,000,000 distributed equally among each winner with $50,000 per winner.
Set!
Up to 10
$1,000,000 in total cash prizes and $750,000 in total vouchers. Each winner will receive a cash prize of $100,000 and up to $75,000 in vouchers.
Go!
Up to 2
$500,000 in cash and up to $75,000 in vouchers per winner
The Ready! Set! and Go! Contests
It all starts with a big idea. Once a completed package has been submitted on HeroX, your video will be made public and you’ll become part of the Ready! Contest.
Ready! Contest 90 days / up to 20 winners / up to $50,000 cash Winners will be selected after identifying an impactful idea or solution addressing a critical need in the solar industry;
Set! Contest 90 days / up to 10 winners / up to $100,000 prize and up to $75,000 in vouchers Competitors will work to substantially advance their technology solution toward a viable and promising proof of concept.
Go! Contest 90 days / up to 2 winners / $500,000 prize and up to $75,000 in vouchers Competitors will work to substantially advance their solution from proof of concept to a refined prototype and find a partner to perform a pilot test of the prototype.
Demo Days Competitors in the Set! and Go! Contests pitch and demonstrate proof of concepts and prototypes to a judging panel and audience at two, live, in-person Demo Day events. Demo days are opportunities to meet competitors, connectors, power connectors, and other members of the American-Made Network. Demo Days culminate in the announcement of Set! and Go! prize winners.
Anyone can compete
Competitors are entrepreneurial individuals or teams, legally residing or based in the U.S., can compete including members of one or multiple organizations, students, university faculty members, small business owners, researchers, or anyone with the desire and drive to transform ideas into impactful realities.
Ready!, Set!, Go! Guidelines
The Ready!, Set!, and Go! Contests will fast-track efforts to identify, develop, and test disruptive solutions to meet solar industry needs. Each stage will include a contest period when participants will work to rapidly advance their solutions. DOE invites anyone, individually or as a team, to compete to transform a conceptual solution into product reality.
The American-Made Solar Prize is a $3 million prize competition designed to revitalize U.S. solar manufacturing through a series of contests and the development of a diverse and powerful support network that leverages national laboratories, energy incubators, and other resources across the country. The American-Made Solar 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.
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
Tomorrow, March 26, at 1 p.m. ET, come see innovators from across the country present live pitches to a panel of industry experts and investors at the Solar Prize Round 4 Set! Pitch Showcase, hosted by Power Connector Carnegie Mellon University’s Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation as part of Energy Week 2021.
From 1-4 p.m. ET, 20 semifinalist teams will present a live pitch to an audience of investors and interested members of the public, followed by an industry networking event from 4-5 p.m. ET.
This is your last chance to RSVP for the event! Whether you’ve been following the progress of Round 4 teams or are curious about the solar innovation happening right now, you’re invited to join the Set! Pitch Showcase. Register now!
On Friday, March 26, at 1 p.m. ET, you’re invitedto watch 20 Solar Prize Round 4 Set! semifinalist teams live pitch presentations from across the country – demonstrating their cutting-edge ideas in American solar innovation and manufacturing to an expert industry advisory panel and virtual audience.
The Solar Prize Round 4 Set! Pitch Showcase will be hosted by Solar Prize Power Connector Carnegie Mellon University’s Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation as part of CMU Energy Week 2021. From 1-4 p.m. ET, teams will present a live pitch to an audience of investors and interested members of the public, followed by a networking event from 4-5 p.m. ET.
Then, tune in to the Set! Demo Day Finalist Announcement on Friday, April 9 to find out which 10 teams are named finalists, each earning $100,000 in cash prizes, $75,000 in support vouchers, and a spot in the Go! Contest.
On Friday, March 26, at 1 p.m. ET, you’re invitedto watch 20 Solar Prize Round 4 Set! semifinalist teams live pitch presentations from across the country – demonstrating their cutting-edge ideas in American solar innovation and manufacturing to an expert industry advisory panel and virtual audience.
The Solar Prize Round 4 Set! Pitch Showcase will be hosted by Solar Prize Power Connector Carnegie Mellon University’s Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation as part of CMU Energy Week 2021. From 1-4 p.m. ET, teams will present a live pitch to an audience of investors and interested members of the public, followed by a networking event from 4-5 p.m. ET.
CMU Energy Week continues to engage thought leadership on critically important topics for the nation’s energy and cleantech innovation future. Check out other Energy Week 2021 events:
Monday, March 22 – Pre-Event Programming: CMU Energy Industry Career Fair
Tuesday, March 23 – Official Kickoff and Energy Insights with VIPs and government officials, Networking Session
Wednesday, March 24 – CMU Energy + Cleantech Investor Forum with Pitch Sessions, Start-Up One-on-Ones with Investors
Thursday, March 25 – CMU Student Energy Poster Competition
Friday, March 26 –American-Made Solar Prize Round 4 Set! Pitch Showcase & Networking Session
Thank you to everyone who submitted an idea to the American-Made Solar Prize Ready! Contest. We’re excited that 20 teams have been selected as semifinalists and were announced today by the U.S. Department of Energy. Each of these teams won a $50,000 cash prize and are now eligible to advance to the Set! Contest.
Round 4 includes innovations in three subject areas: systems integration, concentrating solar-thermal power, and photovoltaics. Here are the Round 4 semifinalists:
Systems Integration
Artificial Intelligence Enabled Battery-Less Solar Hybrid Inverter(San Jose, CA)
Harnessing the Sun Using Medium Voltage Silicon Carbide (SiC) Power Devices(Newtonville, NY)
Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power
Solar AirWall (Merritt Island, FL)
Room Temperature Metal Coating for CSP Mirror(Honolulu, HI)
Aerogel Insulated Solar Collector for Process Heat(Boston, MA)
Photovoltaics
Roofing for the Sol(Petaluma, CA)
Lightfoot – Solar-Powered Vehicles (San Francisco, CA)
Stable and Scalable Perovskite SolarCells(West Lafayette, IN)
Saving Solar Power(Columbia, MD)
Self-Cleaning Solar Power(Boston, MA)
Integrated Solar Power and Insulated Wall System (Easthampton, MA)
Solar Panel with Heatsink(North Oaks, MN)
The Mighty Power System(Monmouth County, NJ)
NanoSpray: Low Cost Solutions for Back Contacts(Brooklyn, NY)
Urban Energy Solar Canopy(Brooklyn, NY)
Next-Gen Solar Roofing Product Collaboration(Highland, NY)
Boosting Energy Yield from Dusty Solar Panels(Stony Brook, NY)
There were numerous, impressive submissions to the Ready! Contest. In fact, we received more than 130 submissions from across the country for Round 4. 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.
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 solar topics and how to submit a letter of intent by Jan. 4, 2021.
We want to thank all teams for competing in the Solar Prize Round 4 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 4 semifinalists!
Tomorrow, Dec. 4, the U.S. Department of Energy is announcing the Solar Prize Round 4 semifinalists! The announcement will happen at 2 p.m. ET in conjunction with the Solar Prize Demo Day & Networking Event. The event starts at 1 p.m. ET with an hour-long networking session ahead of the Round 4 semifinalist and Round 3 winner announcements.
As a reminder, 20 Round 4 teams will be announced as semifinalists, each earning $50,000 in cash prizes and continuing to the Set! Contest. Two Round 3 winners will also be announced at this event, each earning $500,000 and marking the end of this round of the competition.
This event is free and open to the public. We encourage you to invite friends, peers, and other solar industry professionals. The networking session will resume after announcements conclude for continued discussions and congratulations.
