Energy Department launches SunShot Prize competition

The Energy Department announced a new competition in conjunction with its SunShot Initiative. The initiative’s goal is to make solar energy competitive with other forms of energy without subsidy by the end of the decade.

The SunShot Prize will be awarded to the first three teams to design small-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems that repeatedly demonstrate non-hardware costs of $1 per watt (W). The overall goal of the SunShot Initiative is to reach $0.60/W for soft costs by the end of 2020.

Phase I of the competition will require winning teams to successfully deploy 5,000 small-scale rooftop PV systems with $1/W soft costs. Phase II, intended to assess the business sustainability of the systems, will require teams to install an additional 1,000 systems.

The first place winner will receive $7 million and the title of Winner of America’s Most Affordable Rooftop Solar Prize. The second place winner will receive $2 million, and third place will receive $1 million.

Visit the SunShot Prize website for registration and competition details.