"America's Most Affordable Rooftop Solar competition" aims to aggressively drive down the cost of rooftop solar energy systems. It will also award nearly $8 million to nine start-ups as a way of lowering the cost of financing, permitting, and other "soft costs," which can amount to nearly half the cost of residential solar systems.
The new competition is part of the DOE's SunShot initiative. To spur the use of low-cost residential and small commercial rooftop solar systems, the competition challenges U.S. teams to quickly drive down the cost of installed rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems.
"America's Most Affordable Rooftop Solar competition" offers a total of $10 million in prize money to the first three U.S. teams that can install 5,000 rooftop solar PV systems at an average price of $2 per watt. By setting an ambitious target, the competition aims to spur creative public-private partnerships, original business models, and innovative approaches to make solar energy affordable for millions of families and businesses, DOE says.
The DOE SunShot initiative page is here: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/sunshot/index.html
