U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Electricity logo
U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Electricity

Storage Design Strategies to Ease Production (STEP) Prize

Pays up to $500,000 across two phases to energy-storage designs with early manufacturability.

ClosedU.S. Department of Energy's Office of ElectricityUnited States

Phase 1 asks competitors to identify and conceptualize solutions to known production challenges for their storage design; up to three Champions get $20,000 each and up to nine Finalists get $10,000 each, and all Phase 1 winners can advance. Phase 2 asks the Phase 1 winners to further develop and validate their concepts, with up to two Champions winning $100,000 each and up to three Finalists winni…

Looking for novel energy storage technologies that build supply-chain resilience and design-for-manufacturability into the design stage rather than fixing production problems after the fact. Open to a wide range of would-be competitors: solo inventors, academic and non-federal government bodies, small firms, founders, and anyone else working on early-stage storage technology.

CycleiHow often this grant runs - e.g. annually, on a rolling basis, or a one-off call.No fixed schedule
Next deadlineiThe next date applications are due. Rolling means you can apply any time.-
Decision timeiTypical time from the deadline to the funder's decision.-
Project durationiHow long the funded work is expected to run.-
Award typeiThe form of funding - grant, equity, loan, tax credit, etc.Prize
Match fundingiThe share of project costs you must cover yourself. 0% = fully funded.-
Funding pooliThe total budget available across all awards in this round.$500K

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Guides for this application

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology logo
Open

MIT Solve Global Challenges

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡ΈMIT Β· United States

Supports teams tackling global challenges by selecting and backing scalable ideas through MIT Solve challenge pathways.

AIBiotech+3
$10K – $150KNov'26
DOE Industrial Technologies Office (ITO) logo
Closed

DOE Industrial Energy Storage Systems Prize β€” Phase 1: Design

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡ΈDOE ITO Β· United States

Funds teams designing cost-effective industrial energy storage concepts through a DOE prize competition for thermal and electric storage at industrial scale.

Energy TechAdvanced Manufacturing+3
$100K
DOE Industrial Technologies Office (ITO) logo
Closed

Industrial Energy Storage Systems Prize β€” Phase 2

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡ΈDOE ITO Β· United States

Funds teams advancing cost-effective industrial energy storage concepts through a proof-of-concept prototype stage of a DOE prize challenge.

Energy TechAdvanced Manufacturing+1
$200K
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity logo
Closed

Energy Storage Innovations Prize β€” Round 2

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡ΈOffice of Electricity Β· United States

Pays US energy-storage innovators up to $50,000 cash for niche-market storage solutions.

Energy Tech
$10K – $50K
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Electricity logo
Closed

Energy Storage Innovations Prize Round 2

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡ΈDOE OE Β· United States

Pays up to $50,000 to energy-storage innovators solving unconventional grid use cases.

Energy Tech
$10K – $50K
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Solar Energy Technologies Office logo
Closed

Large Animal and Solar System Operations (LASSO) Prize

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡ΈSETO Β· United States

Pays multi-stakeholder U.S. teams a share of over $10 million to build and study cattle agrivoltaics pilot sites that combine solar power with cattle grazing.

Energy TechAgritech
$50K – $225K