Solar Prize Round 7

At the conclusion of Go! Demo Day in September 2024, Fram Energy was named a grand prize winner of the American-Made Solar Prize Round 7. Read on to learn more about their Solar Prize journey and where they’re headed next! 

Fram Energy received a $500,000 cash prize and a $75,000 national lab voucher as a grand prize winner for their innovative billing software that gives renters the ability to access and benefit from solar energy. This brought the team’s total winnings throughout Round 7 of the Solar Prize to more than $650,000 in cash prizes and $150,000 in technical vouchers.

The team’s winning technology incentivizes solar deployment on rental units by enabling both renters and landlords to capture energy savings. The software helps the landlord select the most suitable solar installation for their property and distributes the cost savings to both the tenant and the property owner. This innovation and its win-win model will help unlock the more than 400TW/year in clean energy generation that currently goes unrealized through rental homes.

Since founding their company just over a year before Go! Demo Day, the Solar Prize has helped set Fram Energy on an accelerated growth trajectory. They launched their first project in May 2024, earned their first revenue in July 2024, attracted 25 partners, and have more than 90 customers in the pipeline. Fram Energy has been particularly focused on gaining traction in underserved communities where their technology can help tenants save money on energy bills. 

The team was also named a Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Contest winner in the second stage of the prize for their attention to bringing solar to the underserved rental market. 

With their Solar Prize winnings, Fram Energy is planning to grow their business by hiring new team members and accelerating product development. The technical vouchers will also enable Fram Energy to continue collaborating with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to expand their work.

See Fram Energy’s winning Solar Prize submission and learn more about their startup!

Congratulations to the two Solar Prize Round 7 grand prize winners, Fram Energy and Gritt Robotics! Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Solar Energy Technologies Office announced the two winning teams live at the RE+ Conference following the finalist teams’ pitches. The two winning teams took home a $500,000 cash prize and a $75,000 national lab voucher to continue advancing their work. 

During this final contest of the prize, teams worked on developing and testing their product or prototype, building their network, and making a long-term plan for the success of their concept. The two winning teams are building solutions that make solar more accessible, affordable, and efficient. Learn more about their winning solutions: 

• Fram Energy (Newburgh, NY): This team is developing a platform to incentivize landlords to install solar by enabling both the renter and landlord to capture savings from a solar installation. This software helps the landlord select the best solar system for their property and distributes the benefits of solar to both the tenant and property owner, expanding renters’ access to solar energy. 
• Gritt Robotics (Belmont, CA): This team is developing a solution combining robotics and artificial intelligence for automated construction of utility-scale solar. By converting off-the-shelf construction equipment into intelligent robots, this innovation will accelerate solar construction and improve worker health and safety. 

In addition to the grand prize winners, Solar Prize Round 7 reviewers selected EmpowerSun Solutions and Illumination Solar Training Labs as the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Contest winners for their solutions that enable underserved communities to overcome systemic barriers to solar deployment.

• EmpowerSun Solutions (Aurora, CO):  This team is developing a platform for underserved communities that provides customized solar planning resources and connects landowners with pre-certified project partners. This innovation will help underserved communities, farmers, and tribal entities to effectively leverage their land for the development of solar energy.
• Illumination Solar Training (Jefferson, WI): This team is developing portable, interactive solar training carts that provide affordable, hands-on solar training for communities and colleges. This solution offers relevant equipment, comprehensive concepts, and easy transport for real-world solar training to bridge the solar skills gap. 

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the Solar Prize Round 7 and contributed their innovative ideas for energizing solar innovation! Don’t forget, Round 8 is open and accepting submissions now through Sept. 26. We highly encourage Solar Prize newcomers and alumni to apply! 

Want to watch the Solar Prize Round 7 finalists pitch their innovations live? Tune in to the event livestream and catch the entire Go! Demo Day event at RE+! Even if you’re not attending RE+, you can still watch all of the exciting presentations and learn more about finalists’ unique ideas for advancing solar adoption. 

The livestream begins at 7 p.m. ET tonight, Sept. 10. Watch to see competitors’ pitches, hear from U.S. Department of Energy leadership, then stay tuned for the live winner announcement. The event is expected to end by 9 p.m. ET. 

Good luck to all Round 7 finalists! 

Since May, Solar Prize finalists have been working on advancing their award-winning solar solutions in the hopes of winning $500,000 at Go! Demo Day next week. Today, we’re spotlighting finalists Electra and Illumination Solar Training.

Team Electra, a Round 7 finalist from Bellingham, Washington, is giving retired solar panels new life and saving them from landfills with their digital network for solar panel recycling. Electra’s platform establishes a panel registry and stewardship network to optimize the recycling process and reduce waste. 

The registry and network connect a system of recyclers, haulers, collectors, and other entities to route retired solar panels to reuse locations or recycling facilities instead of the landfill. By solving for collection and logistics challenges, Electra’s technology will help build a comprehensive, cost-efficient system for solar recycling in the U.S. Learn more about Team Electra’s Solar Prize submission.

Illumination Solar Training, a Round 7 finalist and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Contest winner, is bridging the solar skills gap with their Solar Prize innovation. Their team is developing portable, interactive solar training labs that provide affordable, hands-on solar training for communities and colleges. 

The growing demand for solar requires a well-trained workforce, and Illumination Solar Training’s mobile labs enable training organizations to deliver in-depth, experiential solar training to students to build the next generation of solar workers. The labs include the relevant equipment and training concepts for both grid-tied and off-grid systems, and their portability makes it possible to bring this real-world learning directly to communities who wouldn’t otherwise have access to solar training and equipment. Learn more about Illumination Solar Training’s innovation.

Watch Illumination Solar Training's Set! submission video.

Stay tuned to find out if either of these teams become grand prize winners at Go! Demo Day in September!

Since May, Solar Prize finalists have been working on advancing their award-winning solar solutions in the hopes of winning $500,000 at Go! Demo Day next month. Today, we’re spotlighting finalists EmpowerSun Solutions and Pavilion Solar.

Through the Solar Prize, EmpowerSun Solutions is developing a platform to help farmers, tribal entities, and other disadvantaged landowners effectively leverage their land for solar development. In addition to being a Round 7 finalist, EmpowerSun Solutions was named a Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Contest winner for their focus on advancing solar in underserved communities. 

High costs and a complex project development process are key barriers for many landowners to pursue solar development. To address these issues, EmpowerSun Solutions created a user-friendly web application that provides customized solar planning resources and connects landowners with pre-certified partners who can provide comprehensive project support. Learn more about EmpowerSun Solutions’ innovation.

Have you ever wondered how to increase resident solar adoption in hurricane-prone areas? Round 7 finalist Pavilion Solar is tackling this problem through the Solar Prize by developing hurricane-ready solar carports. Their product, called EnPods, is designed for homes that are unable to install rooftop solar panels.

Currently in the U.S., half of all homes are ineligible for rooftop solar, and 32 million homes are at risk of hurricane damage. Many of these communities lack feasible, affordable solar alternatives, such as solar carports, that also comply with hurricane building codes. Pavilion Solar’s hurricane-rated, modular EnPods address this challenge by providing a structurally stable product that can endure storms while remaining accessible and cost-effective. Learn more about Pavilion Solar's solution.

Stay tuned to find out if either of these teams become grand prize winners at Go! Demo Day in September!