$10M US Contest
By tony leather, 17th Jun 2012 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutNewsWorld
The contest is hardly easy. Any competitor for huge prize money must have completed 5,000 new rooftop solar panel installations to even be in the running
$10M US Contest
A $10 million prize could. A new contest launched by the U.S. Department of Energy is targeting the shattering of the price barrier - for people wanting to invest in solar power installations - before 2014 comes to an end. Making rooftop solar panels much more commonly seen throughout U.S. homes and businesses is the aim behind the stunning $10million prize.
Dubbed the SunShot Prize, if won this would give the Department of Energy goal - making solar energy properly affordable as a legitimate other power source by 2020 - a huge boost, and the contest is hardly easy. Any competitor for huge prize money must have completed 5,000 new rooftop solar panel installations to even be in the running.
Furthermore, these businesses must do these installations at an average $2 per watt price, if they are to hit their target costs without asking for any subsidies at all. This is a major push by the DOE to get more investment in American efforts to seize on clean energy technologies, a market potentially worth, worldwide, hundreds of billions of dollars.
Whoever claims the top prize can expect a $7 million payout, along with the prestige title - SunShot Prize Winner of America's Most Affordable Rooftop Solar - though Second and third place teams do not do so bad, winning $2 million and $1 million, respectively. To qualify, every one of the 5,000 installations must between 1 and 15 kilowatts power range, and must be completed between Aug. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2014.
Naturally, there are set rules about the installations, in that the rooftop solar panels involved have to be placed on buildings inhabited by humans, but the DOE announced, at the same time, that up to $8 million in separate awards will be going to nine U.S. start-up companies that are focusing on providing cheaper solar installations.
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