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Solar Prize Round 8

The Solar Prize Round 8 offers $4 million in prizes to entrepreneurial teams moving innovative ideas toward commercialization.

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Summary
Challenge Overview Power Up Your Idea More than $3 Million in Incentives for Innovation Connecting You to the Innovation Engine Who Can Compete? Guidelines

Challenge Overview

The American-Made Solar Prize Round 8 is a multimillion-dollar prize competition designed to energize U.S. solar innovation through a series of contests that accelerate the entrepreneurial process from years to months. Competitors must show their solutions can be commercialized and achieve market entry within the next three to five years.

Through the Solar Prize Round 8, teams have the chance to win part of $4 million in prizes to help them advance in the competition and accelerate the development of their solution toward commercialization.

Power Up Your Idea

For those who have a great idea but need a boost to take their innovation to the next level, the Solar Prize Round 8 offers the Power Up Contest. This contest is designed to support and advance new teams that have compelling applications but aren’t selected to advance to the Set! Contest. Up to 10 teams may be selected to split a $100,000 prize pool and participate in the Power Up Program, where they will receive tailored business support. 

This support will help them refine their technology development road map, improve their business plan, and validate their product/market fit.

The Power Up Program ends with the Power Up Pitch Competition where the Power Up teams can compete for a chance to win complimentary passes to an industry conference.

More than $3 Million in Incentives for Innovation

The Ready!, Set!, and Go! Contests fast-track efforts to identify, develop, and test disruptive solutions to solar industry needs for a total of $3 million in cash prizes and $900,000 in vouchers that can be used at national laboratories and other voucher facilities to develop, test, and validate. Each contest has a performance period when participants work to advance their solutions.

The Ready!, Set!, and Go! Contests

  • Ready! Contest
    20 winners / $50,000 cash prize each / Power Up Contest
    Winners are selected after identifying an impactful idea or solution addressing a critical need in the solar industry;
  • Set! Contest
    10 winners / $100,000 cash prize each
    Competitors work to substantially advance their technology solution toward a viable and promising proof of concept.
  • Go! Contest
    2 winners / $500,000 cash prize each 
    Up to 10 eligible finalists who submit to the Go! Contest / $90,000 support voucher each​
    Competitors work to substantially advance their solution from proof of concept to a refined prototype and find a partner to perform a pilot test of the prototype.

Read the rules for full details on each contest. 

Showcasing Progress

During the competition, competitors in the Set! and Go! Contests participate in live events to discuss and pitch their innovations to a review panel. These events result in the selection of finalists and winners.

  • Set! Virtual Interview Day: The culminating event of the Set! Contest is a virtual interview day, where semifinalist teams answer questions from a panel of expert industry reviewers. 
  • Go! Demo Day: The grand finale of the Solar Prize is a live, in-person pitch event, where finalists present their innovations to a panel of expert industry reviewers, fellow competitors, and a public audience at the RE+ Conference.

Round 8 seeks hardware and software solutions alike. The prize invites anyone, individually or as a team, to transform a conceptual solution into an impactful product and business. 

Connecting You to the Innovation Engine

The American-Made Network provides support to Solar Prize competitors throughout the competition and is comprised of national labs, incubators, investors, facilities, and seasoned industry mentors. The American-Made Network strengthens and scales the critical connections needed to grow new businesses, develop solutions, and sustain American innovation.

Join and connect with network members

Who Can Compete?

Competitors are entrepreneurial individuals or teams legally residing or based in the United States. Competitors can be individuals of one or multiple organizations, students, university faculty members, small business owners, researchers, or anyone with the desire and drive to transform an idea into an impactful solution.

Sign up for updates by “following” the prize at the top of this page. 

Guidelines

Please review the official rules for the complete application process and instructions for competing.

If you want to receive updates on the prize or have any questions, please subscribe by using the follow feature on the HeroX platform or message us directly at .

Looking for assistance with your submission? Contact one of our Power Connectors! 

All of these Power Connectors can answer questions and provide application assistance, make introductions to partners and teammates, and more. For information on the role of the Power Connectors, please refer to the Official Rules: https://www.herox.com/solarprizeround8/resource/1868 

  • University of Arizona Center for Innovation - Amanda Buchanan:
  • ADL Ventures - Nicole Jacobsen,
  • IVT - Nannette Stangle-Castor, : IVT is a WOSB with a team of commercialization experts driving interest in and adoption of new technology innovations and businesses. We work across numerous sectors, including energy, to evaluate market potential and fit, positioning businesses for success. Our team of SMEs in engineering, strategy, and communications have supported businesses from launch, through funding, and beyond for the past 20 years. 
  • VentureWell - Sarah Wharmby,

If you are looking for JEDI support, we highly encourage you reach out to our JEDI Power Connector:

  • Encolor Consulting - Rachel Dortin,

The American-Made Solar Prize is a multimillion-dollar prize competition designed to energize U.S. solar innovation through a series of contests that accelerate the entrepreneurial process from years to months. The American-Made Solar Prize is directed and administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. Learn more.

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Challenge Updates

Congratulations to the Round 8 Semifinalists and Power Up Contest Winners!

Jan. 15, 2025, 9:27 a.m. PST by NREL Prize Moderator

This post was edited on Feb. 28, 2025.

The Solar Prize Round 8 has announced its semifinalists! Twenty teams with innovative ideas to introduce to the solar marketplace were each awarded $50,000, and will now move on to the Set! Contest to advance their solutions towards commercialization. 

Congratulations to the following semifinalist teams (organized alphabetically):

Deployment and Workforce

  • Cosmic Robotics (San Francisco, CA) – This team is developing robots to pick up and place solar modules on single-axis solar trackers, automating a dangerous and laborious task in the installation process. Through this innovation, a network of robots could work alongside human crews to accelerate the deployment of utility-scale solar.
  • IWNL Energy (Orlando, FL) – This team is developing a multilingual, comprehensive, user-centered software platform called the Solar Energy Career Navigator. This platform aims to reduce barriers to entry and bridge the gap between potential workers and employers, guiding them toward fulfilling careers in the solar energy sector. 
  • PowerTechs (Austin, TX) – This team is developing a reskilling and skills assessment platform for the renewable energy workforce that combines artificial intelligence and extended reality. This solution will help address the solar workforce shortage and accelerate deployment of solar energy.
  • Samtracs(San Antonio, TX) – This team is automating solar farm construction through on-site, mobile construction equipment combined with redesigned single-axis tracker components. This new assembly process and tracker design will reduce labor requirements for solar farm construction and decrease construction time.
  • Solar Tech Collective (Tucson, AZ) – This team is developing a mobile-based training app, SolTrain, for solar installation field technicians. The app will provide microlessons focused on essential field skills and will validate technician competency to lower operational costs for solar asset owners. 

Dual-Use PV 

  • Fundusol, LLC (Stanford, CA) – This team is developing a modeling software to design and optimize agrivoltaics systems by modeling multiple factors to predict the performance of the agrivoltaic system on each farm's crop and/or livestock. This solution will help accelerate the deployment of solar in agricultural environments.
  • Icarus (San Diego County, CA) – This team is developing a solution that integrates PV and solar thermal technologies by capturing and converting waste heat to create a hybrid PV and thermal cogeneration system. This solution will improve the power performance of commercial PV arrays and generate hot water that can be stored for on-demand energy needs.
  • Serida Inc. (Ithaca, NY) – This team is developing an agrivoltaics deployment software to enable solar developers to design agrivoltaic systems through advanced microclimate modeling and crop algorithms. This solution will help empower rural communities to go solar by maximizing the community benefits of agrivoltaics.
  • Watts on Water (San Diego, CA) – This team is developing an automated, geographic information system-based solar siting and design software tailored to floating photovoltaics (FPV) systems. Through FPV-specific design parameters and co-benefits analysis, this solution will support the deployment of FPV through streamlining tools such as siting and design and customer acquisition.

Finance and Business Models

  • Eighth Generation Consulting (Osage County, OK) – This team is developing a solar asset management software using artificial intelligence, computer vision, geographic information systems, and permitting data to streamline how solar is permitted, serviced, and decommissioned. Through cradle-to-grave tracking, this solution will enable accurate and cost-effective management and decommissioning of solar assets. 
  • Greengrid, Inc. (Laconia, NH) – This team is developing a platform that finances solar rooftop projects in disadvantaged communities by leveraging corporate renewable energy certificate (REC) commitments. By bundling small-scale solar projects into large, high-impact REC portfolios, this solution reduces financial barriers to rooftop solar for underserved communities.
  • Rayva (Gilbert, AZ) – This team is partnering with roofers and builders to install their building-integrated solar modules during the construction of new homes or roof replacements. This building-integrated solar module, combined with a streamlined business-to-business sales model, will reduce costs and expand the availability of solar to homeowners, including those in underserved communities. 
  • TEAM CBA (Atlanta, GA) – This team is developing a tool to help communities and renewable energy project sponsors develop community benefit agreements. The tool assists with facilitating discovery and research, establishing key impact initiatives and success indicators, drafting and monitoring agreements, and tracking and reporting. 

Photovoltaics (PV)

  • Full Charge Solar (Austin, TX) – This team is developing a fully collapsible, emission-free, cart-based solar array with a battery and inverter that requires little to no maintenance. This system provides electricity throughout the day while charging a battery to provide electricity at night and can serve emergency situations when power is not available.
  • Martin Solar (Mascoutah, IL) – This team is developing a new mounting system for residential solar that does not require drilling into homeowners’ roofs. This leak-proof mount will protect rooftops from damage and increase consumer confidence in rooftop solar.
  • Plug & Play Solar Wing (Atlanta, GA) – This team is developing a quick-deploy, expandable solar PV array suitable for applications such as carports and disaster relief. This expandable design allows the Solar Wing to eliminate more than 95% of onsite installation activities, making it easy to relocate to new sites in the future. 

Systems Integration

  • Expand Power Technologies, Inc. (San Francisco, CA) – This team is developing a novel inverter-based transformer that is smaller, safer, and smarter than traditional designs. This compact solution will expand access to solar in space-limited areas, such as urban environments, and reduce lead times by leveraging U.S.-based manufacturing capabilities.
  • Flip Energy (San Francisco, CA) – This team is developing a turnkey platform to allow homeowners with solar and storage to more easily participate in virtual power plants, which can allow them to generate revenue from their solar + storage systems. This solution will help make residential solar and storage more affordable and accessible for homeowners while also supporting grid reliability.
  • NetMeterGO.com (Las Vegas, NV) - This team is developing a platform that automates affordable net meter interconnection for small- and medium-sized utilities. This solution will equitably promote solar power through streamlined and automated interconnection queue management.
  • WattShift, Inc. (Chicago, IL) – This team is developing a software platform for managing home energy devices, aligning demand with renewable energy availability. This management system dynamically optimizes energy use while reducing consumer costs and enabling more renewables on the grid.

For the second year in a row, the Solar Prize also awarded additional teams through the Power Up Contest to support promising projects that were not selected to advance to the next stage of competition. Seven teams were selected as Power Up awardees, earning a cash prize and an invitation to participate in the Power Up Program, where they’ll receive tailored support to refine their ideas and strengthen their business plans to be more competitive in future competitions.

The Power Up Contest winners are as follows (organized alphabetically):

  • BloomBox Design Labs (Menlo Park, CA)
  • Insitu Energy (San Francisco, CA)
  • Okovate Sustainable Energy (Oxon Hill, MD)
  • Sprightful (Miami, FL)
  • Sundial (Spanish Fork, UT)
  • Team Little Bob (Newark, DE)
  • Venki Energy (Silver Spring, MD)

Congratulations to all the winners! And thank you for the engagement and effort of all the teams who applied to Round 8 of the Solar Prize. We hope you will continue to advance your ideas and stay engaged with the American-Made community! You can tap into the American-Made Network for support and subscribe to the American-Made newsletter to stay up to date on future opportunities. We can’t wait to see what you do next!

Today’s the Day: Submission Deadline at 5 p.m. ET

Sept. 26, 2024, 5:36 a.m. PDT by NREL Prize Moderator

Today’s your last chance to turn in the Ready! Contest submission package for the Solar Prize Round 8. If you haven’t yet applied, make sure you do as soon as possible. Deadline is 5 p.m. ET, and late entries will not be accepted.

As a reminder, please carefully review the Official Rules prior to uploading your final submission. 

We look forward to seeing your entries—good luck!

Solar Prize Round 8 Deadline Is Next Week

Sept. 18, 2024, 6 a.m. PDT by NREL Prize Moderator

This post was edited on Feb. 28, 2025.

If you’re applying for Solar Prize Round 8, make sure your application is submitted by Thursday, Sept. 26, at 5 p.m. ET. We highly encourage you to apply early to avoid technical difficulties. The submission portal closes at 5 p.m. ET sharp, so make sure you hit submit before then! We will not accept late submissions. 

To help guide you, check out the Challenge Resources page to see all helpful materials in one place, including: 

Don’t forget that Power Connectors are available to provide complimentary support around submission materials. 

This is your chance to win part of the $4.2 million prize pool for your innovative contributions to the solar industry. Enter the Solar Prize Round 8 today!

Get Your Last-Minute Submission Questions Answered!

Sept. 16, 2024, 6:46 a.m. PDT by NREL Prize Moderator

Still have questions about applying for the Solar Prize Round 8? Join Power Connector office hours today to get your answers! 

Solar Prize Power Connectors—including ADL Ventures, Encolor, IVT, The University of Arizona Center for Innovation, VentureWell—will be on hand for an office hours session today, Sept. 16, starting at 12 p.m. ET, to provide a refresher on the prize, then field submission questions in individual breakout rooms. Attendees can jump into breakout rooms to ask questions or find the right type of support for their upcoming submissions.

With less than two weeks until the Round 8 deadline, now’s the time to get the support you need to turn in the best possible application. Mark your calendars and register now for this helpful session! 

Two Weeks to Go: Submission Deadline Sept. 26

Sept. 12, 2024, 7:42 a.m. PDT by NREL Prize Moderator

This post was edited on Feb. 28, 2025.

Get your submissions ready for the Solar Prize Round 8! The deadline to apply is Sept. 26 at 5 p.m. ET. Prize administrators strongly encourage uploading your submission as early as possible to ensure technical difficulties don’t prevent you from completing your submission. 

Read through the Official Rules for a detailed look at what to include in your submission package. In the meantime, see the snapshot below:

  • Submission form: Make sure to include Connector Recognition Reward nominations and complete the required question
  • 90-second video: State the problem and how your project solves it  
  • Cover page content: Include project name, location, and members
  • Narrative: Answer four narrative questions (not to exceed 2,500 words)
  • One summary PowerPoint slide: Include technically specific details but that can be understood by most people
  • Letters of commitment or support: Attach one-page letters of support, intent, or commitment from relevant entities 

Still have questions about applying for the Solar Prize Round 8? Join Power Connector office hours on Monday, Sept. 16, to find submission support from the Power Connectors! 

Don’t wait until the 5 p.m. ET deadline to upload your submission. Prize administrators will not accept late entries. We look forward to seeing your solar solutions! 

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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, but it’s quick and easy. Just click the “Solve this Challenge” button on this page and follow the instructions to complete your registration. All you need to provide is your name and email address.

If you have a question not answered in the FAQ, we recommend that you post it in the Forum where someone will respond to you. This way, others who may have the same question will be able to see it.

Please reach out to the Prize Administrators at .

Yes, however, the intent of the voucher funding is to encourage the development of new and productive relationships. If you win a Set! or a Go! Prize then you will not be able to use your voucher funding at your current organization. i.e. National lab researchers would need to utilize their voucher at a Lab that is not where they are, or recently  (4 months or less) were, employed.

No, if you are a contest winner you are receiving the prize for meeting or exceeding the contest goals. 

Yes, the intent of voucher funding is to encourage the development of new and productive relationships.

It is up to the Competitor to identify a suitable partner to pilot test for their proposed solution. Expert Reviewers and Judges will then assess the quality and feasibility of what is submitted.

No, connectors are an optional resource. 

The Ready! Contest Submission Template is under the resources tab.

Innovation is about making ideas happen. The American-Made Network will accelerate and sustain solar innovation through a diverse and powerful network that includes national laboratories, energy incubators, facilities, and other valuable industry partners from across the U.S. who will engage, connect, mentor, and boost the efforts of Solar Prize competitors.

See who is in the network.

Connectors are the core component of the American-Made Network and are organizations that seek to support the efforts of competitors in the Solar Prize. Use this link to explore the Network to find potential partners and develop relationships.

https://americanmadechallenges.org/network

Power Connector organizations are a core group of Connectors that will work alongside NREL to implement parts of the program and secure additional resources and partners. Discover who they are and how they will help innovators succeed. https://americanmadechallenges.org/power_connectors

Looking for assistance with your submission? Contact one of our Power Connectors! 

All of these Power Connectors can answer questions and provide application assistance, make introductions to partners and teammates, and more. For information on the role of the Power Connectors, please refer to the Official Rules: https://www.herox.com/solarprizeround8/resource/1868 

  • University of Arizona Center for Innovation - Amanda Buchanan:
  • ADL Ventures - Nicole Jacobsen,
  • IVT - Nannette Stangle-Castor, : IVT is a WOSB with a team of commercialization experts driving interest in and adoption of new technology innovations and businesses. We work across numerous sectors, including energy, to evaluate market potential and fit, positioning businesses for success. Our team of SMEs in engineering, strategy, and communications have supported businesses from launch, through funding, and beyond for the past 20 years. 
  • VentureWell - Sarah Wharmby,

If you are looking for JEDI support, we highly encourage you reach out to our JEDI Power Connector:

  • Encolor Consulting - Rachel Dortin,

If you encounter an issue when attempting to submit an entry to the challenge, you may need to contact HeroX or the Prize Administrator.

You may try to connect with HeroX using the online form which appears in the bottom right corner of your browser window, it says Leave a Message.

You may also send a message to the Prize Administrator inbox at  .

Please allow at least 1 business day for a response.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is the Prize Administrator for the American-Made Challenges. In this capacity NREL works closely with the U.S. Department of Energy to administer the challenges, maintain the website platform, assist in building the network, and pay prize money to the winning teams.

Tags and labels are a requirement in the submission form.  A series of checkbox options will present options for properly tagging or labeling your entry.

There are 3 primary keyword tags: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), Grid Integration & Modeling, and Photovoltaics (PV).

Each of the primary keyword tags have a subset of tags related to that topic.  These options will be presented during the submission process in the submission form.  

All of your files are uploaded as part of the submission form, access this by clicking the Begin Entry button.  The submission form contains an upload option for each of the required file entries.  Only PDF files will be accepted for upload.

Make your own public-facing one-slide submission summary that contains technically specific details but can be understood by most people. There is no template so feel free to present the information as you see fit. Please make any text readable in a standard printout and conference room projection.

The summary slide must be uploaded as a PDF document.  Please be sure that you export or save your slide as a PDF prior to uploading.

Yes!  There are no restrictions for competitors who submitted in Round 1 thru 6,  your great idea is still eligible for Round 7, but please refer to the Official Rules, specifically the Universal Contest Requirements and Program Policy Factors in the Appendix.

Round 6 requires you to create an account in our new Network Matchmaking Tool. Make sure you are signing up as an “Innovator” and provide information about what your needs are related to your innovation. You can also connect directly with our American-Made Network (our connectors) who are willing and able to help you with your submission! Once you sign-in, you will be able to complete your Technical Assistance Request (TAR) form. This is a necessary step for your submission and separate from the HeroX platform. Please make sure that you log-in early and get connected here:  Network Matchmaking Tool.

Here is the eligibility guidance from the Solar Prize Round 7 Official Rules, Section I.6: 
“Individuals, teams of individuals, private entities (for-profits and nonprofits), and nonfederal government entities (such as states, counties, tribes, municipalities, and academic institutions) are eligible to compete in the Ready! Contest.” 

“Individuals, private entities (for-profits and nonprofits), and nonfederal government entities (such as states, counties, tribes, municipalities, and academic institutions) are subject to the following requirements: 
• An individual prize competitor (who is not competing as a member of a group) must be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident. 
o A group of individuals competing as one team may win, provided that the online account holder of the submission is a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident. Individuals competing as part of a team may participate if they are legally authorized to work in the United States.” 

For in the Ready! submission, please see the Solar Prize Round 8 Official Rules Section II.6, under “Plan” of the Narrative:
“Provide a high-level budget and plan to meet your goals between the conclusion of the Ready! Contest and the Go! Demo Day, including how you will leverage program resources, members of the American-Made Network, or other entities (include references to letters of support/commitment if applicable).”

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