The Community Power Accelerator Prize is a $10 million, three-phase prize designed to fast-track the efforts of new, emerging, and expanding solar developers and co-developers to learn, participate in, and grow multiple successful community solar projects. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) is launching Phase 1 of the Community Power Accelerator Prize.
Donor Name: American-Made Challenges
State: All States
County: All Counties
Territories: American Samoa, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and U.S. Virgin Islands
Type of Grant: Prize/Accelerator
Deadline: 03/15/2023
Size of the Grant: $50,000
Details:
Through this prize, DOE seeks increase the number of equitable community solar projects by providing:
- Tools and resources to connect developers with private sector project financing for community solar projects using a standardized process.
- Training to understand the full cycle of community solar development, including site acquisition, community relations, customer acquisition, securing financing, costs, and the unique challenges and benefits of a community solar model.
- Free consulting services to competitors on the steps necessary to get a community solar project financed.
- Coaching on expanding developers’ solar customer markets to include low- and moderate-income populations, disadvantaged communities, and local workforce development, as well as increase resilience to power outages and household savings to make community solar projects attractive to the widest range of customers possible.
Phase I
- Total Cash Prize: $50,000 per winning competitor
- Up to 25 winning teams will be selected for a cash award of $50,000 each. Winning teams will have the opportunity to participate in Phase 2 of the prize. This phase invites new or expanding community solar developers and co-developers to compete by completing:
- The “Introduction to Community Solar,” a self-paced course
- The Phase 1 submission package, which includes:
- A description of the organization and team
- Details on the proposed community solar project portfolio (minimum 1 MW)
- Information regarding community engagement and partnerships
- How the effort will support the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Identification of at least two of the five meaningful benefits per project.
Eligibility Criteria
Competitors participating in the Community Power Accelerator Prize must meet the following requirements:
- Competitors must be a U.S. legal entity and are responsible for complying with all the rules of this prize challenge, including working with DOE and its Prize Administrator, submitting all required materials, and complying with all guidance and restrictions.
- Projects must be based in the United States, or in U.S. territories.
- Entities must be able to receive payments that are legally made from the U.S. government in U.S. dollars.
- Competitors that plan to develop only a single community solar project are not eligible for this prize.
- To receive prize money, the competitor must be a member of the National Community Solar
- Register for free to join the Partnership here. More information can be found here.
- Community solar projects must meet the DOE definition of community solar, which is “a solar project or purchasing program, within a geographic area, in which the benefits of a solar project flow to multiple customers such as individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and other groups.”
- The proposed projects must provide at least 40% of the power generated to residential customers; none of the projects can exclusively serve a single entity.
- Organizations who have already completed the Community Power Accelerator Learning Lab are eligible to compete in Phase 1, and, if selected for Phase 2, they will not be required to retake the course if they can show their Learning Lab Badge as proof of completion and meet the other eligibility criteria.
- Although participation in this prize does not require competitors to have any competition-specific insurance, developers may be required to prove appropriate insurance coverage to receive financing.
For more information, visit American-Made Challenges.
