The Solar Decathlon is an international competition challenging college teams from around the globe to blend aesthetics and modern conveniences with maximum energy production and optimal efficiency. The purpose of the competition is to challenge us to think in new ways about energy, to increase public awareness about renewable energy and energy efficiency and to help move solar energy technologies to the marketplace faster. 

In the fall of 2007, we will transport our solar house to the competition site on the National Mall in Washington DC and rebuild it there in a solar village. Students from 15 other US universities – as well as from schools in Canada, Germany, Spain and Puerto Rico – will also construct their houses there, for judging in contests evaluating architecture, energy performance and marketability.  The houses, and the sponsors' exhibits, will be open to the public for two weeks.

The Solar Decathlon is sponsored by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the US Department of Energy, in partnership with its National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the American Institute of Architects, the National Association of Home Builders, BP, the DIY Network and Sprint.