Congratulations to Prize-Winning Hail Cat Team
American-Made Program awards $50,000 to VDE Americas-led Solar Prize team that uses RETC’s Hail Durability Test data.
The American-Made Solar Prize, a multimillion-dollar competition funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), has selected 20 teams to advance as semifinalists in Round 6 of the prize. The list of semifinalists includes team Hail Cat, which is led by RETC’s sister company, VDE Americas, and informed by RETC’s Hail Durability Test data.
Each semifinalist team won $50,000 in cash prizes and is eligible to continue to the next phase of the competition, which is designed to energize U.S. solar innovation. The Hail Cat team will use its award to accelerate the development of a web-based software platform that allows stakeholders to identify, quantify, and mitigate natural catastrophe (Nat Cat) perils associated with severe hail.
What is the American-Made Solar Prize?
The American-Made Solar Prize is a multimillion-dollar prize competition designed to energize U.S. solar innovation through a series of contests that accelerate the entrepreneurial process from years to months.
Competitors leverage the American-Made Network, an innovation engine of more than 300 organizations, including world-class experts at the U.S. Department of Energy’s 17 national labs, clean tech accelerators, incubators, universities, facilities, and more.
Round 6 of the Solar Prize offers $4.1 million in prizes to innovators who energize U.S. solar innovation through hardware and software solutions. The Solar Prize is part of the American-Made Challenges, a prize program powered by the U.S. Department of Energy and accelerated by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Who is team Hail Cat?
The Hail Cat team is led by our sister company VDE Americas. In July 2022, the VDE Group, one of the world’s largest technology organizations, acquired a majority stake in RETC. VDE Americas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the VDE Group, provides technical advisory services that advance the deployment of bankable clean energy projects.
John Sedgwick, president of VDE Americas, is the Hail Cat team captain. Jon Previtali is the team’s expert on technology risk mitigation and climate tech funding. Dr. Peter Bostock is the team’s expert on probabilistic meteorological and financial modeling. Ken Sauer is the team’s expert on quantitative analyses and performance engineering. Bodo Littmann is the team’s expert on solar software development.
The Hail Cat team also includes subject matter experts from outside VDE Americas. The team climate scientist is Dr. John Allen of the Allen Research Group, a leading expert on severe convective storms whose work leverages modeling, statistics, and big data analysis to forecast hail incidence and size at operational timescales. RETC’s president and CEO, Cherif Kedir, rounds out the team with his expertise on the use of beyond-certification laboratory testing to characterize comparative hail resilience.
What happens next?
The Hail Cat team is now competing in the Set! Contest. We are working to advance our technology, build strategic partnerships, and bring our concept to market. We are also competing for additional cash prizes. So, stay tuned for updates as we continue to make progress in the next stage of the American-Made Solar Prize Round 6 competition!
