US DOE SOLVE IT Prize Awards $1.5 Million To Communities Driving Clean Energy Projects – CleanTechnica

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DOE announced 10 Phase 2 winners of the Solutions for Lasting, Viable Energy Infrastructure Technologies (SOLVE IT) Prize, awarding winning teams $150,000 each for their proposed community-driven clean energy solutions.

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced 10 Phase 2 winners of the Solutions for Lasting, Viable Energy Infrastructure Technologies (SOLVE IT) Prize, awarding winning teams $150,000 each for their proposed community-driven clean energy solutions.

The SOLVE IT Prize, launched by the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), and Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), aims to empower communities to identify and implement innovative clean energy solutions that meet their unique needs. Competitors collaborated with critical stakeholders to develop community-led energy solutions, building support for local clean energy or decarbonization projects.

“The SOLVE IT Prize is helping communities across the country guide their own clean energy transition, as the experts on their regions”, said DOE Chief Commercialization Officer and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions Dr. Vanessa Z. Chan, “Winners are getting resources to help their communities identify and implement clean energy solutions that work within their specific context.”

In the first phase of the SOLVE IT Prize, the Embark Phase, competitors defined their community, identified ways their community could benefit from clean energy solutions, and laid out plans to engage their community. The 28 winners from Phase 1 were awarded $80,000 each and advanced to Phase 2.

Throughout Phase 2 of the prize, the Engage Phase, the competing teams have worked closely with key community stakeholders to develop their vision for a specific clean energy or decarbonization project that can address community priorities. Teams represent rural, urban, and island communities and are working with a variety of partners, including Tribes, universities, and non-profits.

The 10 winners of the Engage Phase successfully engaged a range of community members and critical partners to collaboratively identify clean energy projects that meet their communities’ needs. Each team’s project will positively impact their communities, which span across the nation. Congratulations to the Phase 2 winners!

• Clearfork Valley Solar and Energy Efficiency (Clairfield, TN) – This team’s Woodland Community Land Trust decided on a solar project that will produce 1 MW of clean energy, create local jobs, and lower bills for residents.

• Cooperative Energy Futures (Minneapolis, MN) – This team plans to pilot a district geothermal system, centered on an anchor building and connected to residences and buildings in the surrounding area.

• Detroit MorningSide EcoDistrict (Detroit, MI) – This team’s Feed Your Neighborhood- Detroit Disaster Recovery Group plans to retrofit to the Grass Roots Organizing Work (GROW) House community hub with focus on solar panel installation and battery storage.

• Duquesne Light Company – Project GREEN (Sharpsburg, PA) – This team plans to increase energy resilience for an urban greenhouse and grocery store with a solar system coupled with a waste-to-energy system.

• Groundwork Elizabeth (Elizabeth, NJ) – Groundwork Elizabeth seeks to incorporate solar and storage with geothermal to transform a community center into a decarbonized, energy-efficient Community Resilience Hub in Elizabeth, NJ. 

• Hui Ulu Mea ‘Ai for the Cultivation of Community Self-Reliance (Waiāhole, HI) – This team plans to develop a micro-hydropower system in Waiāhole Valley on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi to enable resilience in this rural community.

• Puerto Rico Hydro Microgrid Partners (Utuado Municipio, PR) – This team plans to innovatively improve community resiliency with small hydroelectric powered microgrids for low-resourced, rural communities in Puerto Rico.

• Salish Kootenai Energy Alliance (Pablo, MT) – This team’s project is a collaboration of tribal government, business, and non-profit leaders working to meet energy needs of the Flathead Indian Reservation.

• SDSU & Torres Martinez Collaborative (Thermal, CA) – This team’s collaboration will facilitate the energy sovereignty of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians with solar-powered microgrids.

• Town of Pennington Gap (Pennington Gap, VA) – This team’s Expanding Clean Energy in Appalachia project plans to develop solar with EV charging to address key community priorities, reduce costs, enhance public safety, and boost local economic resilience.

What’s Next for the SOLVE IT Prize

Now entering Phase 3 of the prize, the Establish Phase, competing teams will work with their communities to create clean energy project action plans and partnerships to see their project through to fruition. Approximately three grand prize winners of the SOLVE IT Prize will receive $500,000 each, which can help them implement their clean energy community project. Phase 3 winners are anticipated to be announced in July 2025.

Learn More

To learn more about the SOLVE IT Prize and be notified about future winner announcements, follow the prize on HeroX, the official prize platform.

The SOLVE IT Prize was developed by the DOE’s OTT, OCED, and EERE and is funded by the Technology Commercialization Fund through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The prize is administered through the American-Made program, a fast track to clean energy innovation that accelerates the transition from ideas into real-world clean energy solutions.