The Connecticut Green Bank and its partners were recently awarded $25,000 as winners of the first phase of the SunShot Prize: Race to 7-Day Solar, a national competition aimed at reducing the time it takes to “go solar” across the country. The competition is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative.

The bank partnered with Eversource Energy, UIL Holding Corp.’s electric subsidiary the United Illuminating Co. and a group of solar installers and municipalities that formed the Connecticut Permit to Plug-In team. The Connecticut Green Bank funded the solar project and it cost $45,000.

The team reduced average solar system interconnection times by 20 days and installed one megawatt (MW) of solar photovoltaic cells in participating municipalities between the competition’s launch and January 2016. The team aims to reduce installation times and complete projects in less than two months through a data-driven approach to gauge the success of different strategies.

The Connecticut Permit to Plug-in team aims to install 3 MW by March 2016 to win an additional $50,000. The competition concludes on March 17, 2017, at which time the grand prize is $3 million.

Editor’s note: this article has been updated since it was first published on Monday, March 21.