December 9, 2025
The winners of the Solar Builder Project of the Year Award 2025 have been announced! Congratulations to the Northern Cheyenne Buffalo Facility, Gilman Brothers Co., Willcox Greenhouse, Double Black Diamond Solar and the Orcas Center Microgrid. Editors’ Choice Awards were presented to Active Church, Camp Elena, Casa PerlArte Resiliency Hub, Department of Energy Rooftop Solar and Women’s Bean Project.
Please go to the official Projects of the Year site to read through all the winners and watch video interviews with key stakeholders. Congratulations to all this year’s winners and thanks to everyone who nominated, voted and/or shared a project on social media. And thanks Aurora solar energy for sponsoring this year’s awards.
What are the Project of the Year Awards?
Solar Builder’s annual Project of the Year awards celebrate the solar industry. Every year we try to highlight the hard work of construction teams and installers, the creativity of engineers, the leadership of developers and the commitment of so many local businesses, government agencies and non-profits to renewable energy.
The Project of the Year awards are also a reminder of progress. This year’s winners illustrate how communities are connecting to solar energy – not just for energy, but also for education and social impact. These projects show how good technology can overcome challenging terrain. They also represent a clear transition from carbon-intensive energy sources to a cleaner future.
Solar Builder Prices in 2025
Every year, your dedicated editors select a field of nominees from a slew of entries. Our reader base of solar professionals vote on the projects that impress them most, and then we celebrate them in the pages you’ll read. The winners are divided into five categories based on capacity size, and this year we added a special category for microgrids:
We also have our Editors’ Choice awards, which spotlight projects we thought were too cool to leave in the shadows.
Listen to the winners of the 2025 Project of the Year Award
Less than 100 kW | Northern Cheyenne Buffalo Facility
Developer/EPC/Installer: Freedom forever | Modules: Jinko Solar | Inverters: Jinko Solar | Storage: Jinko Solar | Assembly/racking: Nuance Energy Osprey Racks
101 kW to 1 MW | Gilman Brothers Co.
Developer/EPC/Installer: Butterfly fly | Modules: Silfab | Inverters: SolarEdge | Assembly/racking: Unirac
1 MW to 10 MW | Willcox Conservatory
Developer: EnPower star | EPC: Obodo Energy Partners | Installer: Obodo, Icon Electric, Sunstalland Rubicon | Modules: Canadian solar energy | Inverters: CPS | Assembly/racking: OMCO solar energy
More than 10 MW | Double Black Diamond Solar
Developer: Fast current energy | EPCs: McCarthy Building Co. | Installers: Operating Engineers Local 12, Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, Southern California District Council of Laborers and affiliated LiUNA Local 220, Electricians of IBEW Locas 428 and 357, Operating Engineers L:ocal 12, IEW Local 47, Ironworkers of Locals 416 and 433 | Modules: First solar energy | Inverters: Sunny | Assembly/racking: Nextracker
Microgrid | Orca Center
Developer: Cascadia renewable energy sources | EPC/Installer: Sulis energy And Mills Electric | Modules: Héliene | Inverters: SolarEdge | Storage: ELM MG2 And Hithium cells | Assembly/racking: IronRidge | Controller: ELM Field View
Tags: commercial and industrial, Community Solar, Microgrid, Project of the Year, Project of the Year Awards, utility scale
