American-Made Challenges (SETO)

American-Made Solar Desalination Prize

Funds U.S. teams developing low-cost solar-thermal desalination systems through a multi-stage prize competition with a $1 million grand prize.

The American-Made Solar Desalination Prize is a multi-stage prize competition administered by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (DOE EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO). It operates under the American-Made Challenges program, which uses prize competitions to incentivize U.S. entrepreneurs and accelerate ideas and prototypes to manufacturing scale through the American-Made Network. The competition was announced in September 2019.

Prize money totaling millions of dollars is distributed across multiple stages of the competition. The culminating award is a $1 million grand prize for the successful testing and demonstration of promising solar desalination prototypes. The source page does not specify the prize amounts for each intermediate stage, and no per-applicant minimum award is stated.

Eligibility is open to U.S.-based competitors including for-profit companies, nonprofits, universities, and individuals. The competition is aimed at innovative U.S. entrepreneurs. No detailed eligibility requirements — such as team size limits, revenue caps, or specific registration requirements — are provided on the source page.

The competition runs through multiple stages culminating in prototype demonstration. No specific deadlines or open application windows are listed on the DOE source page as of June 2026, where this prize continues to appear under Active Prizes. Applicants should check the official DOE prize page for current stage status and submission windows.

The source page does not provide detailed scoring criteria, application steps, or specific deliverable requirements. Competitors must advance through the prize stages to reach the grand prize. The prize is limited to U.S. participants aligned with the American-Made initiative's goal of strengthening domestic manufacturing leadership.