Applied R&D/New Applications of Mature Technologies
Community Power Accelerator Prize (Phase 1)
The American-Made Community Power Accelerator Prize is designed to fast-track the efforts of new, emerging, and expanding solar developers and co-developers to learn, participate, and grow their operations to support multiple successful community solar projects. The goal of this prize is to grow a robust ecosystem of community solar project developers that incorporate meaningful benefits into projects across the United States.
This prize has three phases: Ready! Set! and Grow! By the end of the prize, competitors will be ready to engage with the Community Power Accelerator online platform, which provides a place for competitors to shop their credit-ready projects around to verified project developers, investors, and philanthropic organizations.
The Community Power Accelerator Prize is open to U.S. community solar developers, including new developers, co-developers (organizations who are partnering with a project developer), or developers who are expanding their community solar operations.
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Transit Tech Lab
The Transit Tech Lab provides a pathway for growth-stage companies to efficiently solve public transportation challenges. Successful companies have an opportunity to pilot their technology with participating transit systems in the New York region.
Applications will be accepted for the Human Capital Challenge and the Operational Efficiency Challenge.
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ACORE Accelerate Membership Program
As a leader in the pan-renewables sector, ACORE is uniquely positioned to help emerging innovators working across the renewables spectrum access capital, pursue transformational business partnerships and work with policymakers to support their business. Through a cohort approach, ACORE Accelerate focuses on supporting small emerging renewable energy companies owned and/or operated by leaders who identify as women, Asian-Indian, Asian-Pacific, Black, Hispanic, or Native American. Accelerate members receive a complimentary two-year ACORE membership, an education stipend, dedicated staff, free access to ACORE paid events, targeted industry briefings, pro-bono legal and advisory services, and networking events with potential funders, developers, and ACORE members and partners, among other benefits.
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AWS Clean Energy Accelerator
The AWS Clean Energy Accelerator 3.0 (CEA 3.0) is an equity-free business acceleration program delivered over 14- weeks. The hybrid program is designed to support innovative mature startups that develop clean energy solutions by accelerating their impact, increasing their access to resources, and expanding their reach.
Over the 14-week period, the chosen finalists will participate both in person and virtually. They will receive technical, business, and go-to-market mentorship from AWS; up to $100,000 each in AWS Promotional Credit1 through AWS Activate to kick-start their data and operations transformation in the cloud. Additionally, the selected startups will gain access to the AWS Digital Innovation team, who can guide startups in using Amazon’s Culture of innovation and Working backwards mechanism to achieve solution alignment and accelerate pilots. The finalists will also receive visibility and overall guidance from supporting partners such as The Climate Pledge Fund and others.
CEA 3.0 will focus its technology search on the following challenge areas: Battery Storage, Hydrogen (production, transportation and storage solutions), Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS), Advanced Materials, and Energy Security.
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Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) Partnership Intermediaries
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) is seeking white papers from prospective Partnership Intermediaries for the Partnership Intermediary Pilot. Through this Pilot, DOE is seeking to broaden the Department’s engagement with new organizations, increase cooperative or joint activities between DOE and small business firms, institutions of higher education, educational institutions, and non-traditional contractors and rapidly develop, scale, commercialize, and deploy technologies relevant to DOE’s mission.
A partnership intermediary (PI) is a state or local government or a nonprofit entity that is owned, funded, chartered, or operated in whole or in part by a state or local government.
Potential PI activities include facilitating and/or managing innovation hubs and/or public-private partnerships; performing technology and market research and scouting; acting as an independent facilitator between DOE programs and projects, DOE National Labs, and external solution providers; and facilitating rapid prototyping, demonstration, deployment, and/or manufacturing, in furtherance of DOE’s mission.
White papers are due January 3, 2023.
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Energy Incentives & Rebates Database (DSIRE)
DSIRE’s summary maps provide a geographical overview of financial incentives and regulatory policies that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency in the U.S. The map is populated in real-time based on the content of the database. Users can select a Program Type and a Technology to see which states have a certain policy or incentive for a particular technology. You can also follow the link below to see DSIRE’s more detailed manually-updated summary maps.
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Black Venture Institute
Black Venture Institute, co-created by BLCK VC, Operator Collective (OpCo), and Salesforce Ventures, is a unique fellowship and ongoing community designed to create opportunities for mid to senior-level Black operators and executives in the tech industry.
You’ll learn the foundations of investing and join a community of high-powered Black operators and technology executives who, together, will represent the future of black fund managers and angel investors across the country.
We are currently taking rolling applications for the Winter 2022/2023 cohort.
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Grid Innovation Program
The Grid Innovation Program supports projects that use innovative approaches to transmission, storage, and distribution infrastructure to enhance grid resilience and reliability. Projects selected under this program will include interregional transmission projects, investments that accelerate interconnection of clean energy generation, and utilization of distribution grid assets to provide backup power and reduce transmission requirements. Innovative approaches can range from use of advanced technologies to innovative partnerships to the deployment of projects identified by innovative planning processes. Eligible entities include: States (individual or combined), Tribes and Territories, Local governments, Public utility commissions.
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Offshore Wind Startup Alley
As the offshore wind industry continues its rapid growth along U.S. coastlines, there is a need for innovative businesses in the supply chain to help reduce costs and ensure sustainable development. It is often difficult, however, for startups to find their foothold in this growing and changing industry. Startup Alley gives your business the opportunity to showcase your innovations and directly connect with industry leaders and stakeholders. Applications are due January 10, 2023.
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Local Infrastructure Hub (Funding Database)
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law consists of nearly 400 distinct funding opportunities across a range of issues—from roads and bridges, to broadband internet, to clean water, to resilience, and beyond.
The Local Infrastructure Hub databases aims to provide all communities with a robust sorting and search function. Use their search feature to locate funding and zero in on the opportunities that align with your community priorities.
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Water Power Projects: Innovative Technologies to Enable Low Impact Hydropower and Pumped Storage Hydropower Growth
This FOA seeks applications to address innovative solutions to retrofit non-powered dams with environmentally sustainable hydropower at a reasonable cost; applications to address development and testing technologies that mitigate challenges to pumped storage hydropower deployment, including market and revenue uncertainty, development costs and financing, long development timelines, permitting challenges, construction risks, and environmental impacts; and applications to address and encourage emerging organizations to support hydropower development. WPTO expects the amount of funding available for projects under this FOA will be approximately $14.5 million and cover the following topic areas:
1. Hydropower Retrofits for Non-Powered Dams;
2. Innovative Pumped Storage Hydropower Technologies; and
3. Hydropower R&D by Emerging Organizations.
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Inventor’s Patent Academy
Patents protect inventions so that inventors can focus on their work and be compensated for it. But many people don’t know how to navigate the patenting process, or even where to start. That’s why The Inventor’s Patent Academy was created. This free, one-of-a-kind, e-learning course aims to help people understand the patenting process and get them ready to apply for their own patent. It also explores challenges inventors may face along the way—particularly those that typically affect women, people of color, veterans, low-income individuals, people with disabilities, and other underrepresented inventors—and provides advice to overcome them.
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