Funding clean-energy solutions
The sixth annual MIT Clean Energy Prize (CEP) competition, held Monday night, awarded a total of $320,000 to five teams that have developed clean-energy startups and innovations. The contest, co-sponsored by Massachusetts utility NSTAR and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and open to teams from any American university, is the nation’s leading student-run energy business-plan competition. Past participants have gone on to raise a total of $130 million in funding. More than 50 teams entered this year’s contest; 15 semifinalists made it to Monday’s grand finale. One finalist was selected in each of three separate categories — renewable energy, energy efficiency, and infrastructure and resources — with each receiving $20,000. The winners of the Audience Choice Award earned $10,000.One team, Picasolar, took home both grand prizes: the DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Clean Energy Prize, worth $100,000, and the NSTAR MIT Clean Energy Prize, worth $150,000. Picasolar, a...