Energy Efficiency
Solar Decathlon Set for 2011
Twenty teams have been picked, and the competition dates have been set, for the Solar Decathlon 2011.
Team Germany won the 2009 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C., with this house. (ECT File Photo By: Michael W. Kahn)
The Department of Energy will host the event on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Sept. 22-Oct. 2 of next year. It will be the fifth decathlon, in which college students vie to design and build solar-powered houses.
Each home is judged on several factors, including affordability, architecture and market appeal. The public is also allowed to tour the homes.
Next year’s event is guaranteed to have a new champion, as Germany’s Technische Universität Darmstadt, winner of the 2007 and 2009 decathlons, will not be back.
However, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the 2009 runner-up, will return.
The lineup for Solar Decathlon 2011 is comprised of teams from 14 states, as well as New Zealand, China, Belgium and Canada.