Apply Now for the $10 Million Community Power Accelerator Prize
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP) announced the Community Power Accelerator Prize: Accessing Capital to Deploy Equitable Community Solar, a $10 million prize competition designed to fast-track the efforts of new, emerging, and expanding solar developers and co-developers to learn, participate, and grow their operations to support multiple successful community solar projects.
Community solar project developers or co-developers interested in expanding their staff and operations and incorporating meaningful benefits into multiple community solar projects are eligible to compete and can sign up on the HeroX platform. This includes organizations that are newly established, have developed only a few community solar projects, or that aspire to stand up a new organization or a new business line supporting multiple community solar projects.
Competitors can earn up to $400,000 each in prizes across three rounds of the competition by showing notable progress in project pre-development activities, including designing, financing, incorporating equity, and enabling access to at least two of the five meaningful benefits of community solar identified by NCSP: Low- to moderate-income household access, greater household savings, resilience and grid benefits, community ownership, and equitable workforce development.
The prize is part of the Community Power AcceleratorTM, an NCSP initiative that connects developers, investors, philanthropists, and community-based organizations together to get more equitable community solar projects financed and deployed. By the end of the prize, competitors will be ready to find funding for their projects on the Community Power Accelerator online platform.
The deadline to apply for the prize is March 15 at 5:00 p.m. ET.
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