Could the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) actually be trying to spur solar manufacturing in the United States, something President Donald J. Trump and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer say the tariff decision earlier this week will do?

The answer is a definite maybe.

Through a partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the DOE has launched the American-Made Solar Prize, which it says is designed to spur innovations in the solar industry by bringing the public into the equation.

In the Solar Prize process, the public would submit ideas they believe will advance the solar industry as well as vote on which ideas they would like to see move forward.

Then the DOE and NREL would form teams of researchers to develop solutions and connect them to a network of industry experts, developers, fabricators, incubators and potential investors to accelerate product development.

According to the announcement, the goal would be to prototype the ideas and prove their viability to the private sector, in the hopes of getting investors to scale the successful technologies.

Though the website for the prize mentions prize money that will be awarded to the winning teams, there are no specifics of amounts or what parameters would qualify projects for support.