CFAs: Storage Design Strategies to Ease Production Prize (US)

Deadline: 09-Oct-2026

The Storage Design STEP Prize supports early-stage energy storage innovators who integrate manufacturability and supply chain resilience into technology development. The prize offers $500,000 in total cash awards across two phases to help promising energy storage technologies overcome manufacturing, materials, and commercialization barriers. What Is the Storage Design STEP Prize? The Storage Design STEP Prize is an innovation competition focused on improving the commercial readiness of emerging energy storage technologies in the United States. The program addresses a common challenge in energy innovation: promising technologies may perform well technically but struggle to reach the market because they are difficult or expensive to manufacture or depend on vulnerable supply chains. The prize encourages innovators to consider these challenges during the early stages of technology development, rather than addressing them only after a technology has been developed. Commercialization of next-generation energy storage Why Does the Storage Design STEP Prize Matter? Energy storage technologies are important for integrating renewable energy, strengthening energy security, and supporting a more flexible electricity system. However, technical performance alone does not guarantee that a technology can be manufactured affordably and at commercial scale. The Storage Design STEP Prize encourages innovators to address these barriers from the beginning.

The competition aims to:

Reduce manufacturing risks. Strengthen domestic and resilient supply chains. Encourage the use of abundant and cost-effective materials. Improve the scalability of energy storage systems. Reduce dependence on vulnerable or concentrated supply chains. Make new energy storage technologies more commercially viable. Open previously inaccessible or expensive market opportunities. What Does the Prize Support? The competition focuses on innovations that incorporate manufacturability and supply chain considerations into the design of energy storage technologies. Applicants are encouraged to consider questions such as: Can the technology be manufactured at scale? Are the required materials readily available? Can materials be sourced domestically? Can components be standardized? Can the system be made modular? Can manufacturing costs be reduced? Are the materials safe and environmentally sustainable? Can supply chain disruptions be minimized? The goal is to encourage design decisions that improve both technological performance and commercial feasibility. Prize Amount and Award Structure The Storage Design STEP Prize offers $500,000 in total cash prizes across two competition phases. Phase 1 Awards Phase 1 will provide awards to Champions and Finalists:

Up to 3 Champions: $20,000 each

Up to 9 Finalists: $10,000 each

Phase 2 Awards Phase 2 provides larger awards for leading innovations:

Up to 2 Champions: $100,000 each

Up to 3 Finalists: $50,000 each

There are no restrictions on how prize funds can be used. This allows winners to direct the funding toward areas most important to advancing their technology, such as research, prototyping, engineering, manufacturing development, testing, or commercialization activities. Who Is Eligible? The Storage Design STEP Prize is open to several categories of U.S.-based innovators and organizations.

Eligible competitors include:

Individuals who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Teams led by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Private entities incorporated and based in the United States. U.S.-based academic institutions with federally recognized accreditation. Teams may participate when their designated leader satisfies the applicable U.S. citizenship or permanent residency requirement. Who Is Not Eligible? Certain individuals and organizations are excluded from participating.

Ineligible applicants include:

Federal government entities. Federal government employees. Department of Energy employees and contractors. Individuals or entities prohibited from doing business with the U.S. government. Applicants should carefully review the official competition requirements before submitting an entry. What Types of Innovations Are Encouraged? The prize is particularly relevant to innovators developing next-generation energy storage systems and technologies that face manufacturing or supply chain challenges. Potential areas of innovation may include technologies where developers can demonstrate improvements through: The competition is not simply about developing a technically novel storage technology. It emphasizes the integration of manufacturing and supply chain strategy into technology design. How the Storage Design STEP Prize Works The competition is structured around two phases.

Phase 1: Early-Stage Innovation

Phase 1 recognizes innovators that demonstrate promising approaches to integrating manufacturability and supply chain resilience into energy storage technology design. Up to three Champions and nine Finalists can receive cash awards.

Phase 2: Advanced Development

Phase 2 provides larger financial awards to selected Champions and Finalists whose innovations demonstrate stronger potential to address manufacturing and supply chain challenges. The larger awards are intended to help promising concepts progress toward greater technological and commercial readiness. How to Prepare an Application Eligible innovators should prepare their competition submission around the central objectives of the prize. A strong submission should clearly explain: The energy storage technology Describe the technology, its intended application, and the problem it addresses. The manufacturing challenge Explain what could make the technology difficult, expensive, or inefficient to manufacture at scale. The supply chain challenge Identify important materials, components, suppliers, or other potential vulnerabilities. The proposed design solution Explain how the technology has been designed or redesigned to