Another round of the $10 million Community Power Accelerator Prize has officially launched and is now open for applications. Round 3 of this three-phase prize is designed to fast-track the efforts of new, emerging, and expanding solar developers and codevelopers to grow multiple successful community-benefiting distributed solar projects.

Round 3 of the prize seeks organizations that have the desire and ambition to develop and finance a portfolio of two or more projects that, in aggregate, total at least 1 MW AC of distributed solar generation. To be eligible, no single portfolio project may exceed 5 MW AC. Distributed solar projects may include but are not limited to:

  • Community solar
  • Behind-the-meter virtual power plants (VPPs)
  • Distributed energy resource (DER) aggregations
  • Microgrids
  • Commercial and industrial (C&I) solar 
  • Multifamily projects.

Can I apply to Round 3 if I’ve applied to other rounds of the prize in the past?

Organizations that have previously won only Round 1 Phase 1 or Round 2 Phase 1 of the Community Power Accelerator Prize are eligible to compete but must include a new portfolio of projects. Organizations that have previously won Round 1 Phase 2 or Round 2 Phase 2 are not eligible to compete in Round 3.

How can I learn more information about the prize?

Follow the prize on HeroX to stay up to date on the latest announcements, and don’t forget to register for one of the two upcoming Round 3 Informational Webinars.

Applicants must upload a Phase 1 submission package by Dec. 17 at 5 p.m. ET to be in the running for a Phase 1 prize and move on to Phase 2.