American-Made Solar Prize Round 3

The American-Made Solar Prize is a $3 million competition designed to revitalize solar manufacturing in the United States. Teams will be selected from a diverse applicant pool of entrepreneurial students, professors, small-business owners, company staffers, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Laboratories, and anyone else based in the United States with a potentially marketable solar technology solution. This challenge requires competitors to make progress on a condensed timeline, form private-sector partnerships, and secure investments to make their ideas a reality.

On September 24, 2019, Round 3 of the American-Made Solar Prize was launched. To participate, competitors must identify a critical challenge related to American solar manufacturing competitiveness, create a proof of concept, and secure a partner to test a prototype. Competitors will participate in demonstration days, where they will pitch their ideas. At these national events, a panel of expert reviewers will evaluate competitors based on the quality of their solution and the progress made during the contest period.

On February 11, 2020, 20 teams representing 11 states were selected to receive $50,000 and move on to the next phase of the competition. Their concepts are grouped into two categories: photovoltaics (PV) and systems integration.

On December 4, 2020, two winning teams were announced at a live virtual event. Each team received $500,000 in cash and $75,000 in vouchers to use at the National Laboratories and other qualified fabrication facilities. The winners are:

Maxout Renewables (Livermore, CA) — This team developed the Evergrid, an appliance powered by a fly-wheel that can turn a residential solar installation into a microgrid that keeps delivering power during a grid outage while the sun is shining. The Evergrid also stabilizes the home microgrid by providing power balancing capacity when appliances like refrigerators cycle on and off.