Sunmetrix Winner of SunShot Catalyst Business Innovation Contest

We are proud to announce that WhatNextNow Solar is one of seventeen winners of the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Catalyst Business Innovation contest. Working together with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Topcoder.com over the next three months, WhatNextNow Solar will be participating in the prototyping phase of the challenge, with access to $25,000 in software development funds. Results of the prototyping phase will be presented in San Francisco at Demo Day, scheduled for early May 2015. Winners of the prototyping phase will go on to the incubation contest with the chance to access $100,000 in prize money.

Our winning proposal

WhatNextNow Solar’s winning proposal has as its primary objective to bring top-quality solar information to homeowners, with a "try-before-you-buy" solution for solar energy called WhatNextNow Solar Go. This solution allows homeowners to test-drive solar energy for their home before spending a single dollar, and directly compare their potential electricity generation with their consumption, as determined with Green Button Data.

About Us

WhatNextNow Solar, established in Montreal, Quebec, has been helping homeowners since 2012. With WhatNextNow Solar Discover, homeowners anywhere in the world can enter their address or postal code and immediately learn the solar potential of their location, see the dollar value of that energy, and access a solar buy or lease calculator to help them make the best choice for their location.

About the SunShot Initiative

The U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative is a collaborative national effort that aggressively drives innovation to make solar energy fully cost-competitive with traditional energy sources before the end of the decade. Through SunShot, the Energy Department supports efforts by private companies, universities, and national laboratories to drive down the cost of solar electricity to $0.06 per kilowatt-hour.

About topcoder

The topcoder community gathers the world’s experts in design, development and data science to work on interesting and challenging problems for fun and reward. We want to help topcoder members improve their skills, demonstrate and gain reward for their expertise, and provide the industry with objective insight on new and emerging technologies.

About NREL

At NREL, we focus on creative answers to today's energy challenges. From breakthroughs in fundamental science to new clean technologies to integrated energy systems that power our lives, NREL researchers are transforming the way the nation and the world use energy.

About Green Button Data

Making metered data available to consumers - all electric users have meters that are used to measure how much energy they use. This metered data has been used by the energy service provider to calculate how much that energy will cost you, the consumer. Green Button is all about making that data available to you - for planning - for analysis - for your benefit!

Facts about solar energy in Canada

(as provided by the CanSIA, the Canadian Solar Industry Association Vision 2025; current as of 2010; and Natural Resources Canada)

• There are approximately 650 solar energy companies throughout Canada;


• They predict that by 2025, the solar industry will be supporting more than 35,000 jobs in the economy;


• They predict that by 2025, the solar industry will be displacing 15 to 31 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year, providing a safer, cleaner environment for generations to come;


• Germany has the highest level of solar PV installations of any market in the world, with current installed capacity of 9.6 gigawatts, roughly 145 times Canada’s current capacity.


• The capacity (megawatt) and the number of utility interconnected PV Systems in 2012 across all of Canada was 1210 MW and 16,847;


• 99% of installed grid-connected capacity (in MW) in Canada is installed in Ontario

Facts about solar energy in the U.S.

(as provided by the U.S. Department of Energy; current as of 30 September 2014)

• A new solar project was installed every four minutes in 2013 in America;


• Some of the largest and most successful companies and organizations in the world are deploying solar in a massive scale — including Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, FedEx, GE, GM, Google, IKEA, Macy’s, Target, Walmart, and the U.S. military;


• Since the beginning of 2010, the average cost of solar PV panels has dropped more than 60 percent and the cost of a solar electric system has dropped by about 50 percent;


• Although the cost of solar energy system hardware (i.e., panels, inverters, etc.) has dropped significantly, the non-hardware “soft” costs of solar – such as permitting, installation, interconnection, and maintenance fees – remain a major barrier to greater deployment.