Silicon Carbide (SiC) Packaging Prize

The Silicon Carbide (SiC) Packaging Prize is a SETO competition aimed at improving SiC power-electronics packaging for solar inverters and other grid-connected applications. It sits on the HeroX American-Made Challenges platform and is part of the broader solar prize family. The prize total is $2.25 million, and the current record says it was open as of May 2026. The eligibility framework is broad enough to include for-profit firms, nonprofits, universities, research organizations, and individuals, with the United States as the working geography and no match requirement. That broad applicant pool is unusual for a prize tied to inverter hardware and lets small teams, labs, and institutions compete on the same terms. For applicants, the appeal is a focused hardware challenge with a clear commercialization link to inverter and grid hardware. The program is active rather than between cycles, so it is the SETO route here with the most immediate open entry point.

Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.