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 Solar Unsoiled and NC Solar Inverters.
Solar Unsoiled, from Durham, North Carolina, was named a Round 7 finalist for their innovative software that optimizes solar farm cleaning schedules. The platform uses a model that predicts daily soiling levels to make sure solar farms are cleaned at the most opportune time, increasing system energy yield and reducing panel maintenance costs.
Large-scale solar farms can realize a 20% profit gain when cleaning schedules are optimized to balance revenue losses and cleaning costs. Solar Unsoiled’s solution utilizes predictive modeling and machine learning to provide current and future soiling losses so that customers can be proactive about panel mitigation and prioritize, budget, and schedule cleanings months to years in advance. Learn more about Solar Unsoiled’s Solar Prize submission.
NC Solar Inverters, a Round 7 finalist from Cary, North Carolina, is developing a novel inverter design that improves efficiency, reliability, and cost compared to state-of-the-art solutions. With their cost-efficient technology, NC Solar Inverters aims to expand U.S. manufacturing of solar power electronics.
The team’s inverter design leverages the high performance of silicon carbide (SiC) technology while reducing electromagnetic noise and switching losses. Adding to these advantages, their solution also saves weight and volume, slashing inverter costs. These innovations will encourage domestic inverter manufacturers to expand their portfolio of products and make high-performance, SiC-based inverter technology in the U.S. Learn more about NC Solar Inverter’s Solar Prize submission.
Stay tuned to find out if either of these teams become grand prize winners at Go! Demo Day in September!
