Teams from 40 states, plus Washington, DC, 2 Territories, and 4 American Indian Reservations, Will Deploy Solar in Underserved Communities

Albany, NY – Today, the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) announced that 127 new teams have been selected for the Solar in Your Community Challenge. The challenge is a $5 million prize competition supported by the Department of Energy and administered by SUNY Poly that aims to expand solar electricity access to low and moderate income households, non-profits, and local governments and tribes, which have been left out of the growing solar market to date. The new teams will join the 48 teams that were selected earlier this year, for a total of 172 teams competing in the challenge. Their innovative approaches include a wide range of financial, business, and outreach activities that will be validated through on-the-ground projects or programs.

The challenge aims to spur local solar project development and create good-paying jobs across the country. There are nearly 300 megawatts of shovel-ready solar energy projects proposed as part of the prize competition. Over the next 18 months, these teams must demonstrate tangible success for new business models that expand solar access and build local capacity to support local solar projects.

"The teams that were selected to take part in this potentially game-changing initiative are on the cutting-edge, offering novel ideas and finding new approaches that can lead to exciting solar market growth," said Michael Fancher, SUNY Poly Executive Director, New York State Center for Advanced Technology in Nanomaterials and Nanoelectronics (CATN2) and Associate Professor of Nanoeconomics. "SUNY Poly is proud to announce these winners whose work can meaningfully contribute to a more sustainable future in New York State and across the United States as we encourage world leadership in clean energy solutions."

A group of expert reviewers evaluated hundreds of proposals to assess the degree of innovation and prospective impact. The top 35 teams will receive up to $60,000 in seed money and many more will receive $10,000 in technical assistance vouchers. Teams that best demonstrate replicable, innovative, and sustainable business or financial models with the potential to expand solar access to low and moderate income households will be eligible for a total of $1 million in final prizes, including a $500,000 grand prize.

To view a map and a downloadable spreadsheet of the selected teams, you can visit the following link: https://energy.gov/eere/sunshot/sunshot-prize-solar-your-community-challenge.

The Solar in Your Community Challenge is supported by the Energy Department's SunShot Initiative and SUNY Poly. SunShot works to make it faster, easier, and more affordable for Americans to access solar power through competitive programs and awards. Other SunShot prize competitions, like the Catalyst Energy Innovation Prize, have successfully launched solar businesses across the solar industry in record time, while simultaneously maximizing the number of new ideas. SUNY Poly has partnered with the Energy Department on the Race to 7-Day-Solar competition, as well as on the Solar in Your Community Challenge.

More information about the selected teams and the Solar in Your Community Challenge.

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SUNY Polytechnic Institute. SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) is New York’s globally recognized, high-tech educational ecosystem, formed from the merger of the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and SUNY Institute of Technology. SUNY Poly offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience and nanoengineering, as well as cutting-edge nanobioscience and nanoeconomics programs at its Albany location and undergraduate and graduate degrees in technology, including engineering, cybersecurity, computer science, and the engineering technologies; professional studies, including business, communication, and nursing; and arts and sciences, including natural sciences, mathematics, humanities, and social sciences at its Utica/Rome location. Thriving athletic, recreational, and cultural programs, events, and activities complement the campus experience. As the world’s most advanced, university-driven research enterprise, SUNY Poly boasts billions of dollars in high-tech investments and over 300 corporate partners. For information visit www.sunycnse.com and www.sunypoly.edu.

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Media Contact:
Steve Ference, Director of University Communications
(518) 956-7319 | sference@sunypoly.edu