Colorado students joined a Google hackathon to tackle energy grid challenges.

We held the second annual Colorado Impact Hackathon at our Boulder offices, in partnership with CU Boulder and the Colorado Energy Office.

Participating students tackled a crucial challenge: How can we create a clean, secure, and resilient electric grid in Colorado? The winning projects addressed this head on:

• First place: SolarSnap, an AI app that helps homeowners find the ideal setup for solar panels using their phone’s camera
• Second place: Grid Watch, an AI-managed battery network designed to keep power on during wildfire shutoffs while reducing electricity costs.
• Third place: Grid Guard, providing predictive capabilities for targeted grid hardening

At the event, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and CU Boulder Vice Chancellor for Sustainability Andrew Mayock highlighted the importance of bold innovation to shape Colorado’s clean energy future.

From mitigating wildfire risks to tackling energy backlogs, events like these demonstrate how collaboration between students, public leaders, and technologists can drive meaningful change for Colorado.

The students from the winning team, SolarSnap, with their Google Guide Sarah Bonnet.

Brin Enterkin (Impact Hackathon Lead @ Google), Megan Christensen (State of Colorado Energy Office), Phil Weiser (Colorado Attorney General), Erick Mueller (CU Head of Entrepreneurship & Innovation), Betsy Klein (Associate Director of CU Deming Center for Entrepreneurship), Beth Hartmen (Director of CU External Engagement in Sustainability)

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Brin Enterkin pause for a quick selfie after his closing keynote.

Students get to experience being a Googler for a day by hacking away at hard problems.

Andrew Mayock, Vice Chancellor of Sustainability at CU Boulder, kicked off the day with an inspiring opening keynote.

https://blog.google/company-news/outreach-and-initiatives/sustainability/colorado-impact-hackathon