More consumers are paying attention to the environmental impacts of the manufacture and the end-of-life cycle of solar photovoltaic (PV) equipment. As the U.S. federal government ramps up solar adoption in construction and power purchase agreements over the next few years, they’ll need to purchase solar products that are certified with certain ecolabels to meet sustainability goals.
The American-Made Promoting Registration of Inverters and Modules with Ecolabel (PRIME) Prize is a two-phase, $2.7 million competition aimed at increasing EPEAT registration of solar PV modules and inverters. The goal is to help manufacturers meet the high bar for EPEAT product standards and make their products more attractive to purchasers with sustainability goals.
The prize incentivizes the registration of PV module and inverter products through the EPEAT ecolabel. EPEAT is an ecolabel operated and maintained by the Global Electronics Council (GEC) for certain electronic products, including solar PV modules and inverters.
EPEAT is the only ecolabel for solar PV products recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—yet, as of August 2024, there are only four certified PV products (all modules) according to the EPEAT Registry.
The goal of the PRIME Prize is to expand the number of EPEAT-registered products in the solar market, enabling the federal government to meet procurement requirements and sustainability goals as it purchases more solar power throughout the years.
Registering PV modules and inverters with EPEAT qualifies product(s) to:
The PRIME Prize offers a total prize pool of $2.7 million in cash prizes across two phases.
Phase 1: Manufacturers submit letters of intent to register up to four PV module or inverter products with EPEAT and provide proof of participation with the GEC. Winners will receive $50,000 in cash and move to Phase 2.
Phase 2: Manufacturers validate that their products meet all required EPEAT criteria and submit proof of EPEAT product registration from the GEC. At the end of Phase 2, manufacturers win $100,000 in cash for each of the products identified in their Phase 1 submission that achieve EPEAT registry listing, up to $400,000 in cash total.
The PRIME Prize is open to U.S.-based manufacturing organizations of either solar PV modules or inverters. Eligible applicants must not have any previously EPEAT-registered PV modules or inverters.
Want to compete? Subscribe to the PRIME Prize for program updates by clicking the "Follow" button at the top of the page. You’ll be notified when the Official Rules are published to learn more about the application process and instructions for competing.
You may also email with questions.
© 2024
