 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced the Sunny Awards for Equitable Community Solar (The Sunny Awards), a new program that will recognize best practices in community solar, which allows multiple customers to subscribe to a shared system of solar panels. By elevating projects and programs that can serve as blueprints for community solar developers, state energy offices, utilities, and other stakeholders, the Sunny Awards will help achieve DOE’s National Community Solar Partnership target of powering 5 million homes and saving subscribers $1 billion on electricity bills.
“Community solar is a transformational solution that provides clean energy to anyone who subscribes to it, not just homeowners who can install solar panels on their roof,” said Kelly Speakes-Backman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at DOE. “It’s important to lift up projects that are spreading the sunshine and lowering energy bills so more Americans can benefit from community solar.”
Applicants for the Sunny Awards should be any U.S.-based community solar project and program that can show meaningful benefits in categories such as reducing energy burden, increasing access to low- and moderate-income households, or developing equitable workforce programs. Applicants will submit their community solar project structure, practices, and benefits; relevant data and evidence to show the benefits their project provides; a narrative of their project development and goals; description of challenges they faced; and the results of the project. Judges will evaluate the project based on the quality of meaningful benefits it provides to its customers and the quality of the application materials.
Up to 50 projects will receive $1,000 and advance as finalists in the prize challenge. Up to five finalists can win a Sunny Award and prizes of $10,000 per team. Winners will be recognized at the National Community Solar Partnership Summit in January.
Submissions are due on October 7, 2022. Read the competition’s official rules for details on submission and participant eligibility.
Register for DOE’s informational webinar on The Sunny Awards on August 18 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
The National Community Solar Partnership is a coalition of community members, developers, utilities, financial institutions, governments, and other stakeholders led by DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office.
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