[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 102 (Wednesday, May 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30597-30598]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12290]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy


SunShot Catalyst Program

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Notice; Release of competition rules and processes to compete.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of the 
availability of the SunShot Catalyst Program prize competition rules. 
The Program is a series of prize-based contests designed to incentivize 
the public to address time-sensitive market problems in solar. The 
Program consists of four steps (Ideation, Business Innovation, 
Prototyping, and Incubation) with value awarded to all winning 
contestants totaling $1,000,000, which includes approximately $500,000 
in cash prizes.

DATES: Submission to the Ideation step began May 21, 2014, and must be 
received electronically by June 20, 2014. Submission to the Business 
Innovation step begins July 24, 2014, and must be received 
electronically by August 13, 2014. All dates are subject to change. 
Other important dates are provided online at catalyst.energy.gov.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons can find full details about the 
competition rules and register to participate online at 
catalyst.energy.gov. Questions about the prize competition can be sent 
to:
     Email: [email protected].
     Mail: Mr. Victor Kane, U.S. Department of Energy, Mailstop 
EE-4S, 1000 Independence Avenue, Washington, DC 20585.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions may be directed to Mr. 
Victor Kane at (202) 287-1862 or by email at: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 
2010 (America COMPETES), Public Law 111-358, enacted January 4, 2011, 
authorizes Federal agencies to issue competitions to stimulate 
innovations in technology, education, and science. The SunShot Catalyst 
Program consists of four steps with value awarded to all winning 
contestants totaling $1,000,000, which includes approximately $500,000 
in cash prizes. The following is only a summary of each step. For more 
information please review the full details online at 
catalyst.energy.gov. Contest rules are subject to change.
    Eligibility: The Contest is open only to: (a) Citizens or permanent 
residents of the United States; and (b) private entities, such as 
corporations or other organizations that are incorporated in and 
maintain a primary place of business in the United States. Individuals 
submitting on behalf of corporations, nonprofits, or groups of 
individuals (such as an academic class or other team) must meet the 
eligibility requirements for individual participants. An individual may 
join more than one team, corporation, or nonprofit organization. DOE 
employees, employees of sponsoring organizations, and members of their 
immediate family (spouses, children, siblings, parents), and persons 
living in the same household as such persons, whether or not related, 
are not eligible to participate in any portion of the SunShot Catalyst 
Program. Federal entities and Federal employees, acting within the 
scope of their employment, are also not eligible to participate in any 
portion of the SunShot Catalyst Program.
    Step 1: The Ideation Contest focuses on generating and aggregating 
pressing U.S. solar market needs and problem statements that can be 
solved through automation, algorithms, data, and software, especially 
by leveraging available data assets, tools, capabilities and resources. 
Anyone can participate in this contest by submitting problem statements 
online or by voting on existing submissions of problem statements 
during the active voting period. There will be five monetary prizes of 
$1,000 each, based on the results of a subsequent Incubation Contest 
(Step 4). A contestant with a problem statement, in the Ideation 
Contest, may win $1,000 in cash prizes, when a team, who adopted this 
referenced problem statement in their business solution, has been 
selected among top five winners in the Incubation Contest.

[[Page 30598]]

    Submission Period Began: Wednesday May 21, 2014 at 11:59 a.m. ET. 
Submission Period Ends: Friday June 20, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
    Step 2: The Business Innovation Contest is designed to help teams 
form and explore business solutions to the most compelling problems in 
increasing solar energy generation, especially problems and challenges 
expressed by the public during Step 1, the Ideation Contest. Anyone can 
participate in this Contest by submitting a business plan package 
online featuring a five minute video describing the proposed business 
plan. Winners of Step 2 will be given the opportunity to participate in 
the next contest, Prototyping (Step 3). DOE will grant access to 
$25,000 worth of online software development capabilities for every 
winner of Step 2. Winners will be selected based on the degree to which 
their business plan addresses a time-sensitive market problem in the 
solar industry. Up to 20 winners will be given the opportunity to work 
directly with a crowd-centric performance-based software development 
platform (PSDP) for 60 days to develop the product proposed in their 
business plan and complete minimum viable products (MVPs). Submission 
Period Begins: Thursday July 24, 2014 at 11:59 a.m. ET. Submission 
Period Ends: Wednesday August 13, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
    Step 3: The Prototyping stage is designed to help the selected 
winners from the Business Innovation Contest (Step 2) rapidly complete 
the development of minimum viable products (MVPs) using a crowd-
centric, performance-based software development platform. DOE will 
match winners of stage 2 with a DOE provided software developer. The 
software developer will work with the winners to provide the technology 
solutions to support their business plan.
    Step 4: The Incubation Contest is designed to help teams with 
minimum viable products (MVPs) completed during a prior Step 3 
(Prototyping) start their businesses and accelerate offering new 
products and services in the solar marketplace. To win cash awards, 
teams have to participate in a publically held event, Demonstration 
(Demo) Day, managed by DOE to showcase their MVPs, market entry 
execution strategy, and a 6-month growth plan. During Demo Day, Teams 
will be evaluated by judges selected in accordance with America 
COMPETES. The top five winners may receive a maximum total of $100,000 
in cash prizes, per winning team. Funds will be distributed in two 
tranches as a seed round and a progress round. The first tranche seed 
round of $30,000 will be given to the five top teams that participate 
in Demo Day. Winners will be selected based on the degree to which 
their minimum viable product addresses a time-sensitive market problem 
in the solar industry. Those teams will be eligible for a second 
tranche progress round of $70,000 as a follow-on cash award based on 
the Team's success in meeting its targets and goals as identified in 
its 6-month growth plan. Demo Date: January 19-February 09, 2015. Seed 
Round 1st Tranche Cash Awards Announcement Date: Monday February 09, 
2015. 6-month Assessment Period Ends: Monday August 10, 2015 at 11:59 
p.m. ET. Progress Round Awards and 2nd Tranche Cash Prizes Announcement 
Date: September 10-20, 2015.
    All dates are subject to change. For more details please visit 
catalyst.energy.gov.

    Dated: May 20, 2014.
Steven G. Chalk,
Deputy Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-12290 Filed 5-27-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P