Thursday, June 14, 2012

Psst...Wanna Win Some Money? Department of Energy is Offering $10 Million in Prizes

From LiveScience:

New Rooftop Solar Competition Offers $10 Million Prize
A $10 million prize could make rooftop solar panels a much more common sight on U.S. homes and businesses. The new contest launched by the U.S. Department of Energy aims to shatter the price barrier for solar power installations before the end of 2014.

Success in the SunShot Prize would give a huge boost to the Department of Energy's goal of making solar energy affordable compared with other power sources by 2020. Anyone hoping to compete for the millions in prize money must deploy 5,000 new rooftop solar panel installations at an average price of $2 per watt — the target cost without any subsidies.

"The investments in American startups and the new competition announced today further our efforts to seize on the tremendous global market for clean energy technologies, representing hundreds of billions of dollars worldwide," said Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy, in a statement released on June 13....MORE 
Here's the DOE's Sunshot Initiative page.