American-Made Challenges (SETO)

American-Made LASSO Prize

Funds U.S. companies and organizations piloting cattle agrivoltaics projects through a phased prize competition to generate cost and outcome data.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The American-Made Large Animal and Solar System Operations (LASSO) Prize is administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO). It is a prize competition — not a grant — structured under the American-Made Challenges series. The total prize pool is $8 million. There is no cost-share requirement; winners receive cash prizes at each completed phase.

The prize runs two parallel tracks. The Standard Track is for cattle agrivoltaics projects not yet built or in early development: Phase 1 awards up to 14 winners $50,000 each; Phase 2A awards up to 7 winners $225,000 each; Phase 2B awards up to 7 winners $225,000 each; Phase 3 awards up to 7 winners $100,000 per sub-phase across four sub-phases. The Operating Track is for projects already fully operational at submission: Phase 1 awards up to 3 winners $50,000 each; Phase 2 awards up to 3 winners $100,000 per sub-phase across four sub-phases. Two $100,000 bonus prizes are also available — one for the largest PV system (Standard Track only) and one for the most valuable dataset beyond minimum requirements (both tracks).

Eligibility is open to U.S.-based for-profit and nonprofit private entities, academic institutions, and nonfederal government entities such as states, counties, Tribes, and municipalities. National laboratories may not compete but may support teams under lab partnership rules. There is no employee size cap or revenue threshold stated in the source.

Phase 1 applications closed March 6, 2025. The competition opened September 10, 2024. No future open-entry rounds are announced; teams already selected in Phase 1 continue through subsequent phases, but new entrants can no longer join. Evaluation uses DOE/NREL reviewer panels; specific scoring criteria weights are not published in the source.

Key caution: this is a prize competition, not a non-dilutive grant. Cash is awarded upon completion of milestones at each phase. Teams must build or operate real solar-plus-cattle installations and collect and share data to qualify for later phase prizes.