Pitch competition · Summer 2026

Find an energy problem near you. Build the fix.

Two areas are open right now. Pitch a project your community needs, and if we pick you, we pay for the parts and hand you a mentor. You keep everything you make.

Pick your area See what you’d build

A teen on a rooftop wiring a solar sensor into an energy meter, cut-paper collage

$5,500

committed by two local power companies

areas open now: Alameda and Marin

$350

in parts per team, plus a mentor

August 1

the day applications are due

Applications are opening soon.

We read every application together after August 1, then pick a cohort. No fee, no gatekeeper.

01Pick your area

two sponsors · two areas

Two local power companies are funding this.

Each one covers its own area, so the money stays where it comes from. Find yours below and it takes you straight to that application. If you fall in both, pick the one you’ll build for.

Alameda area

the not-for-profit electricity provider for Alameda County.

Find where energy gets wasted, stays dirty, or is hard to get near you, and build the fix.

FremontOaklandHaywardBerkeleyUnion CityLivermoreand more

You live, work, or go to school in Ava's service area: Alameda County and the Ava-served parts of San Joaquin County.

Up to $350 in parts · a mentor · demo day

Apply for Alameda

Marin area

Marin's community-owned clean-electricity provider.

Spot a clean-energy or climate problem in Marin you could actually put a dent in, and build it.

San RafaelNovatoMill ValleySan AnselmoLarkspurand more

You live, work, or go to school in Marin County.

Up to $350 in parts · a mentor · demo day

Apply for Marin

02What you'd build

real hardware · sized to the grant

Three builds we’d fund tomorrow.

You don’t have to build any of these. They’re here to show the range: a real device plus a small model that does something useful, all doable on the parts budget. Pick your own problem and go bigger or smaller.

Sample 01

WattWhisperer

One sensor names every appliance

A power bill is one big number. No family can see that the old fridge or the pool pump is the real cost, so nothing ever gets fixed.

SCT-013 current sensor$12
ESP32 dev board$9
Small OLED display$7
Ballpark$50 to $110

Why it lands. Turns one number into a clear list of what to fix or switch to electric, matched to real rebates.

Sample 02

HeatHunter

Thermal vision finds where a building leaks

A quarter of a home's heating and cooling escapes through gaps and thin walls you can't see. A pro thermal audit is expensive.

MLX90640 thermal sensor$45
ESP32 dev board$9
1.8in TFT screen$12
Ballpark$80 to $110

Why it lands. Walk a classroom or a home and get a map of exactly where to seal, insulate, or upgrade first.

Sample 03

BlockHeat

A neighborhood heat map that argues for change

Heat and pollution hit some blocks far harder than others. Cities have a handful of sensors, so the block-level picture is invisible to the people who could fix it.

SHT31 temp/humidity$14
PMS5003 air sensor$25
GPS module$15
Ballpark$130 to $300

Why it lands. Take the map to a city council meeting or to Ava and make the case for trees, cooling, or help where it's worst.

03How it works

apply by August 1

Apply
Submit a real application
A two to three minute YC-style video that states your build's cost estimate, a written proposal with a visual (a schematic, a wiring diagram, or a labeled drawing), technical and feasibility essays, a line-by-line parts list, each member's age, grade, and school, and a required adult advisor. No entry fee, but it's real work. Do all of it yourself: no AI writes your essays, your proposal, or your video script.
Batch
We pick a cohort
Applications close on the apply-by date. A panel reads the whole batch together, then interviews the teams we're serious about before we pick the cohort.
50%
Funded
Selected teams sign a short grant agreement (you and your adult advisor) and half the money lands right away, so a good idea never stalls on parts money.
Yours
Build
Two to four months to build it, put it somewhere real, and gather data, with a mentor check-in every two weeks. You keep full ownership and IP of everything you make.
50%
Demo
Show it working at demo day with real data. That releases the second half of the grant. Then you run a few sessions teaching what you built.

The dates that matter

Applications dueAugust 1
Cohort pickedearly August
Build with a mentorAugust to October
Demo dayMid-October

On signing

50%

lands right away. Buy the parts, start building.

At the demo

50%

pays out when you show it working.

up to $350 per project

04How it's judged

three things, same for everyone

Every pitch is read against the same three things. You don’t need to ace all of them. A strong pitch just makes each one easy to say yes to.

01A real problem
It helps someone specific where you live, not a science-fair demo. The more real the person, the stronger the pitch.
02You can actually build it
A team of one to four can ship it on $350 in parts and a couple of months. Ambitious is good. Impossible isn't.
03Proof you finish things
A past project, a repo, a rough working version. We back evidence over promises, so show what you've built before.

What we don’t gate on

No entry fee, ever
No finished product to apply. A plan and a path to a prototype is enough
Teams of one to four. We prefer two to four, but a solo builder is welcome
You keep full ownership and IP of everything you build

05Ready

due August 1

Pick your area and apply.

A short video, a plan, a parts list, and an adult advisor on the team. We read the whole batch together after August 1, so get yours in before then.

Apply for Alameda Apply for Marin

Not sure it’s for you? Ask us anything.

Find an energy problem near you. Build the fix.