Solar Prize Round 5 — Hardware Track
Paid U.S. solar hardware teams up to $500,000 in cash to advance prototypes toward market.
Round 5 was the first time the Solar Prize split into separate Hardware and Software tracks, letting more entrepreneurs compete by keeping physical-component teams and software teams in separate lanes with the same underlying contest structure. At the Set! stage, semifinalists submit a pitch video and each team gets a ten-minute question-and-answer session with a panel of industry experts before t…
This track backed physical solar innovations — components, manufacturing processes or producible products — that strengthen U.S. solar hardware manufacturing. It ran alongside a parallel software track as part of the wider American-Made Solar Prize, which uses a series of contests plus national-lab and industry support to grow U.S. solar innovation.
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Guides for this application
All guides →Grant Pitch Deck Example: Slides, Storyline, and Video Script
See a grant pitch deck example with slide outline, EIC-style pitch logic, demo-video script, and grant-vs-investor deck differences.
Submit & reportSAM.gov Registration and UEI Guide for Federal Grant Applicants
Learn how SAM.gov registration, UEI numbers, Grants.gov accounts, organization profiles, workspace roles, and renewal timing fit together.
BudgetIndirect Costs in Grants: Rates, MTDC, and Examples
Understand indirect costs in grants, including direct vs indirect costs, negotiated rates, de minimis rates, MTDC, funder caps, and budget narrative implications.
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