Solar Prize Round 6

Headed to RE+ in Las Vegas? There are so many great ways to connect with the American-Made team during the conference! 

View the full schedule and mark your calendars for these interesting and informative events and networking opportunities. 

Monday, Sept. 11

• American-Made Mixer Hosted by University of Arizona Center for Innovation
  5:30–7:30 p.m. | The Oak Room Whiskey and Tequila Bar (Venetian Hotel)
  Join us for an opportunity to mix and mingle with UACI staff as well as American-Made network members and team members, and past and present prize competitors. Light appetizers and cash bar will be provided; please RSVP if you’d like to join this free event!

Tuesday, Sept. 12 

• Booth Pop-Up: Community Solar Prizes & Opportunities
  1–2 p.m. | Booth #18028
  Hear about the array of American-Made community solar prizes open for submissions, and learn more about how to find resources, support, and additional funding for your community solar initiatives. 
   
• Booth Pop-Up: Solar Prize Power Connectors 
  2–3 p.m. | Booth #18028
  Applying for Solar Prize Round 7? Join the American-Made team, VentureWell, and University of Arizona Center for Innovation to learn how Power Connectors can provide resources and feedback to help your application stand out.
   
• Solar Prize Round 6 Go! Demo Day & Winner Announcement
  4–6 p.m. | Innovation Stage
  Come see the nation’s top solar innovators take the stage to pitch their solutions to the industry’s top challenges, then stick around to find out who wins the $500,000 prize!

Wednesday, Sept. 13

• Panel: Increasing Renewable Energy Workforce Development in Underserved Communities
  9:30–10:30 a.m. | Innovation Stage
  Listen in on this engaging discussion, featuring members from a diverse pool of government and industry organizations, to learn about workforce development strategies, priorities, and how we can strengthen our energy workforce by bringing in more diverse experiences and perspectives.
   
• QuickTalk: How Your Startup Can Win Big
  11–11:30 a.m. | Innovation Stage
  Stop by to learn how the American-Made program can help take your startup to the next level with no-strings-attached funding for your energy innovation. 
   
• Booth Pop-Up: American-Made Network
  1–2 p.m. | Booth #18028
  The American-Made Network is made up of more than 400 organizations that offer help to prize competitors and startups. Come learn how to use the Network to find support for your startup—or consider joining the Network to help solve some of the nation’s leading energy challenges! 
   
• American-Made Innovators Coffee Chat with ADL Ventures 
  3:30–4:30 p.m. | Booth #18028
  Join Connector ADL Ventures for an opportunity to chat with other industry leaders and professionals about upcoming prizes and competitions, hear about other opportunities to connect with investors, and enjoy light refreshments! 

The finale of the Solar Prize Round 6 will once again be hosted at the RE+ Conference, taking place Sept. 11–14 in Las Vegas.

Conference attendees are invited to join the American-Made team for the Solar Prize Round 6 Go! Demo Day on Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. PT. The 10 finalist teams will be presenting their game-changing solar technologies to a panel of industry reviewers, who will then announce the prize’s two winning teams—and award them $500,000 each! Any winners of the optional Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Contest will also be awarded their share of an additional $50,000 prize pool.

The American-Made team will also host educational sessions throughout RE+, including: 

• Panel: Increasing Renewable Energy Workforce Development in Underserved Communities
• Quicktalk: How Your Startup Can Win Big
• Booth takeovers throughout the conference from collegiate competitions, Power Connectors, the VELOCITI voucher program, and more at the American-Made booth

We hope you can join us for the exciting conclusion to Solar Prize Round 6 at RE+. Register for the conference now if you haven’t already!

RE+, the nation’s largest conference for renewable energy professionals, will play host to the Solar Prize Round 6 Go! Demo Day, where finalists will present pitches and winners will be announced. 

The conference, which is taking place Sept. 11–14 in Las Vegas, offers attendees the opportunity to make valuable connections with industry peers, and the American-Made team will be on hand throughout the conference to talk about opportunities to get involved in prizes and beyond. Learn more about ways to connect with the American-Made program, including Solar Prize alumni and Round 6 finalists, at RE+. 

Conference attendees are also invited to take a front row seat at the Solar Prize Go! Demo Day, taking place Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. PT. The prize’s 10 finalists will present their game-changing solar innovations to a panel of industry judges, after which two teams will be named winners and awarded $500,000, and additional prizes in the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Contest! It’s a great opportunity to hear about competitors’ innovative technologies first hand. 

Register for RE+ now to network with energy industry professionals and see the live Solar Prize Round 6 finale. We hope to see you there!

The Solar Prize Round 6 finalists have been announced. Ten teams were awarded $100,000 in cash and $75,000 in technical support vouchers, and are now moving on to the Go! Contest. 

Finalist selection took place after the Set! Contest Demo Day on April 4, where the 20 semifinalists discussed their technologies with a panel of industry reviewers. The 10 teams that were chosen to move on to the Go! Contest will now work to produce a refined prototype and perform a pilot test of their innovation that was engineered to advance the solar industry.

Three teams were also awarded additional prizes in the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Contest. This prize is optional and open to teams whose innovations include a solution that boosts underserved communities’ access to solar deployment. 

The finalist teams moving on the last contest in Solar Prize Round 6 are as follows: 

• Fliteworks (New York, NY): This team is developing software to automate drone piloting of solar site monitoring and enable site daily inspections. Automating monitoring can lower the cost of inspections, increase the frequency of inspections, and collect more data to improve the performance of solar farms.
• NC Solar Inverters (Cary, NC): This team is developing a new, low-cost inverter that combines efficient, older technology with new control techniques to create a fully sealed inverter design that uses natural cooling. This allows for higher reliability and performance for utility-scale solar compared to other inverters on the market.
• LEAF (Stow, OH): This team is developing a computer aided design (CAD) plugin that automates layout design of utility solar sites for solar engineers. This greatly decreases the manual redrawing of strings for each project, reducing labor hours and costs.
• Latimer Controls, Inc. (Boulder, CO): This team is developing an intelligent control software that enables utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) to provide power reliably and on demand. This will replace grid reliance on fossil fuels, drive higher profitability for PV operators, and generate revenue increases for solar asset owners with low capital cost.
• ReJoule's Second-Life Solar Team (Signal Hill, CA): This team is developing a fast, new method for testing the health of decommissioned electric vehicle (EV) batteries and using these batteries to develop an integrated solution for storing solar power and dispatching it at peak hours. This allows for fast screening of used batteries and certification for use in grid scale storage of solar energy. 
  JEDI Contest Winner
• Snow-Free Solar (Toledo, OH): This team is developing a durable strip coating that is applied to the lower edge of solar panels to help shed snow. By shedding snow from panels in a quick and low-cost way, solar plants continue to operate efficiently year-round. 
  JEDI Contest Winner
• RUTE Foundation Systems (Portland, OR): This team is developing a high-clearance single-axis tracker for PV systems meant to be integrated into active farmland (agrivoltaics). Using raised cables to stabilize and move the panels, this technology lowers costs and uses less steel than traditional agrivoltaic racking systems. 
  JEDI Contest Winner
• Noria Energy (Sausalito, CA): This team is developing autonomous motors for floating solar, replacing traditional anchors and mooring systems. This simplifies installation and reduces cost, redundant engineering for each project, and diving teams needed for installation.
• Edgeli (Portland, ME): This team is developing a cloud-based, collaborative data and modeling platform for developers and utilities to use shared data, models, and maps to site and size solar energy projects. This software will result in faster approval times and fewer projects clogging the interconnection queue.
• Solesca (Chicago, IL): This team is developing a utility-scale solar design platform to help solar developers identify promising solar sites. Features of this platform include site filtering, community sentiment information, and a live collaboration tool.

Read the full announcement for more details on the Solar Prize and the Round 6 finalists. 

Finalists will perform a pilot test ahead of the final Go! Contest Demo Day at the RE+ Conference in September 2023. At the conclusion of the Go! Contest, two teams will be named winners, each earning $500,000 in cash and additional support vouchers. Select teams may also be awarded additional funds through their participation in the JEDI Contest.  

Congratulations to the finalists and good luck in the Go! Contest! 

The Solar Prize Round 6 semifinalists have been announced! The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $50,000 to 20 teams who will now advance to the Set! Contest. Additionally, two teams received a $25,000 prize for winning the optional Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Contest, which encourages solutions that enable underserved communities to overcome systemic barriers to solar deployment.

The semifinalist teams moving on in Solar Prize Round 6 are as follows: 

Photovoltaics

• Autonomous Cable-Free Anchoring for Floating Solar (Sausalito, California) – This team is developing autonomous motors for floating solar, replacing traditional anchors and mooring systems. This simplifies installation and reduces cost, redundant engineering for each project, and diving teams needed for installation. Learn more about their tech.
• Clearing the Hurdle of High-Cost Agrivoltaics (Portland, Oregon) – This team is developing a high-clearance single-axis tracker for photovoltaic (PV) systems meant to be integrated into active farmland (agrivoltaics). By using raised cables to stabilize and move the panels, this technology lowers costs and uses less steel than traditional agrivoltaic racking systems. Learn more about their tech.
• Crack Catcher AI (Klamath Falls, Oregon) – This team is developing a system of lasers and artificial intelligence (AI) to assess mechanical stress on PV cells, sensing and predicting fracturing. This will reduce defects that lead to reliability and quality issues, increase manufacturing yield, enhance long-term durability, and secure U.S. competitiveness in the PV market. Learn more about their tech.
• Facilitating Snow Removal from Solar Panels (Toledo, Ohio) – This team is developing a durable strip coating that is applied to the lower edge of solar panels to help shed snow. By shedding snow from panels in a quick and low-cost way, solar plants continue to operate efficiently year-round. Learn more about their tech.
• Ground-Based Mounting System for Rural Solar (Miami, Florida) – This team is developing a ground-based solar panel mounting system that can be assembled by anyone and connected by an electrician. This system is convenient for renters, rural households, and tribal areas, increasing solar adoption opportunities. Learn more about their tech. (JEDI Contest Winner)
• Maximize Efficiency (Las Vegas, Nevada) – This team is developing a self-cleaning and chemically resistant nanocoating that prevents soiling of solar panels. This protection can increase panel efficiency and reduce panel maintenance costs. Learn more about their tech.
• Retractable Solar Modules for Buildings and Beyond (Mountain View, California) – This team is developing a retractable PV shade screen for use in greenhouses. This provides on-site energy production for the greenhouses while also providing proper shade for plant production. Learn more about their tech.
• The Beam Module: PreFab Solar for Commercial Roofs (San Francisco, California) – This team is developing a prefabricated solar panel with integrated racking for commercial flat roofs. This solution will reduce costs by eliminating on-site fabrication or assembly for faster installation, design, and permitting. Learn more about their tech.
• Ultra-Thin, Flexible Solar PV for More Surfaces (San Diego, California) – This team is developing ultra-thin, flexible, crystalline silicon solar PV cells that can wrap around buildings and vehicles. The technology will enable low-cost installation for the vehicle-integrated PV market, offset needs for grid-charging electric vehicles, and expand access to renewable energy. Learn more about their tech.

Systems Integration

• Grid-on-a-Chip: Accelerating Solar Interconnection (Sunnyvale, California) – This team is developing a grid simulation platform that enables faster feasibility studies for interconnecting solar and other renewable energy resources to the grid. With this platform, simulations that used to take days to complete can now be completed in a few minutes. Learn more about their tech.
• Second Life Solar (Signal Hills, California) – This team is developing a method for testing the health of decommissioned electric vehicle batteries that can be completed in 30 seconds, speeding up the 10-hour process typical of existing technology. This allows for fast screening of used batteries and certification for use in grid-scale solar storage. Learn more about their tech.
• World's Most Reliable Inverter (Cary, North Carolina) – This team is developing a low-cost inverter that combines efficient, older technology with new control techniques to create a fully sealed inverter design that uses natural cooling. This allows for higher reliability and performance for utility-scale solar compared to other inverters on the market. Learn more about their tech.

Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power (CSP)

• Deployable Off-Grid CSP Desalination with MEDAD (Honolulu, Hawaii) – This team is designing an off-grid, small-scale CSP desalination system that harvests heat from the sun to produce fresh water. This modular, affordable, and efficient desalination system can deliver potable water to areas with freshwater shortages. Learn more about their tech. (JEDI Contest Winner)

Finance and Business Models

• Hail Cat – Identify, Quantify, and Mitigate Hail Risk (San Jose, California) – This team is developing a web-based software platform that allows solar developers and insurance companies to identify, quantify, and prevent hail damage. This enables sound financial assessments of potential risk-mitigation strategies and a rational basis for insurance prices and terms. Learn more about their tech.
• Shared Data, Smaller Queues, More Interconnections (Portland, Maine) – This team is developing a cloud-based, collaborative data and modeling platform for developers and utilities to use shared data, models, and maps to site and size solar energy projects. This software will result in faster approval times and fewer projects clogging the interconnection queue. Learn more about their tech.
• SolarBound Build Confidence Build Trust Build Solar (Fort Collins, Colorado) – This team is developing an online marketplace for appraising solar land value and generating portfolios for developers. This tool could increase the percentage of successful solar projects by mitigating risks for developers and customers. Learn more about their tech.

System Operations

• Autonomous Solar Panel Inspections (New York, New York) – This team is developing software to automate drone piloting of solar field aerial thermography scans. Automating this process can lower the cost of each scan report, increase the frequency of inspections, and collect more data to improve the performance of solar farms. Learn more about their tech.
• Latimer Controls Enables Intelligent Solar Power (Boulder, Colorado) – This team is developing an intelligent control software that enables utility-scale PV to provide power reliably and on demand. This will replace grid reliance on fossil fuels, drive higher profitability for PV operators, and generate revenue increases for solar asset owners with low capital cost. Learn more about their tech.

System Design

• Advancing Agrivoltaics (Chicago, Illinois) – This team is developing a software that allows solar developers to optimize solar panel configurations on agrivoltaics sites. Their software estimates energy output from solar panels and the amount of sunlight crops receive, and helps maximize revenue for both solar developers and farmers. Learn more about their tech.
• LEAF Solar Design Assistant (Akron, Ohio) – This team is developing a computer-aided design plugin that automates layout design of utility solar sites for solar engineers. This decreases the manual redrawing of strings for each project, reducing labor hours and costs. Learn more about their tech.

Learn more about each semifinalist submission.

Additional Funding Opportunities

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 email from the prize administrators with comments and feedback on your submission from the reviewers.

We also suggest exploring funding opportunities through DOE’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) funding program. Through SBIR/STTR, small businesses can receive funding for engaging in high-risk, innovative research and development with the potential for commercialization. 

Thank you to everyone who applied for Solar Prize Round 6. We hope you will 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 Newsletter or following us on LinkedIn and Twitter. Should you have questions, please feel free to reach out at solar.prize@nrel.gov. 

Congratulations, again, to the Round 6 semifinalists!