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.
Each eligible portfolio submitted to Round 3 must include at least one of the following meaningful benefits bolded below:
- Equitable Access and Consumer Protections (required benefit for portfolio submission)
- Meaningful Household Savings (required benefit for portfolio submission)
- Resilience, Storage, and Grid Benefits
- Community-Led Economic Development
- Solar Workforce Development.
Please read the Official Rules document for more information on meaningful benefits.
What prize amounts are available?
The Community Power Accelerator Prize will award up to $10 million in cash prizes to winning teams throughout the three phases of the competition.
- Up to 25 Phase 1 awards at $50,000 each
- Up to 25 Phase 2 awards at $200,000 each
- Up to 25 Phase 3 awards at $150,000 each
Can I apply to Round 3 if I’ve applied to other rounds 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.
- Register for the Oct. 1 webinar
- Register for the Nov. 13 webinar
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.
Good luck to all competitors!
