Frequently Asked Questions
These frequently asked questions about the Solar Decathlon provide a quick overview of the event. If you still have questions after reviewing these and the rest of the site, please contact the Webmaster.
The 2007 Solar Decathlon challenges 20
college teams from around the globe in 10 contests to design, build, and operate the most livable, energy-efficient completely solar-powered house. Solar Decathlon houses must power all the home energy needs of a typical family using only the power of the sun. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends aesthetics and modern conveniences with maximum energy production and optimal efficiency. The first Solar Decathlon was held in 2002, and the most recent was held in 2005.
In 2007, teams transport their completed solar homes from their respective campuses to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to compete in the Solar Decathlon. The students' solar houses and educational exhibits form a "solar village," open to the public, October 12 - 20. The team houses are open for touring everyday, except Wednesday, October 17, when they will close for competition purposes. An overall winner is announced on Friday, October 19 at 2 p.m. See the schedule for more information. Visitors to the village can learn how to energize a modern lifestyle—where we work hard, move fast, and demand convenience and comfort—while using energy only from the sun as efficiently as possible. Please note that it will likely take you two days to visit all of the team houses. Expect to wait in lines to visit each house.
The Solar Decathlon serves three main purposes:
- To educate the student participants about the many benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency and to challenge the students to think in new ways about energy and how it impacts our everyday lives.
- To raise awareness among the general public about renewable energy and energy efficiency and what technologies are available today to help them reduce their energy usage. The Solar Decathlon is open to the public on certain days and acts as a living laboratory where visitors can see these technologies in action. The event serves to encourage all of us to act responsibly when making energy choices.
- To help move solar energy technologies to the marketplace faster. The students push the research and development of energy efficiency and energy production technologies.
Student teams from 20
colleges and universities around the globe will compete in the 2007 Solar Decathlon. Today's students are tomorrow's engineers, architects, scientists, entrepreneurs, and homeowners. The Solar Decathlon encourages students to incorporate energy efficiency and solar energy into their future professional projects and personal lives.
Like the Olympic decathletes, the solar decathletes need to draw on all of their strengths, including design and architecture, engineering and performance, and education and promotion. The teams rely on expertise from many disciplines as they spend months fund raising, planning, designing, analyzing, and finally building and improving their homes. Future engineers will work with future architects to create high-performance homes that are also highly attractive.
Teams composed of faculty and students from numerous post-secondary institutions submit proposals and plans for consideration. The Solar Decathlon Proposal Review Committee assesses these entries and selects teams. The Solar Decathlon Proposal Review Committee consists of engineers, scientists, and other experts from the U.S. Department of Energy and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Twenty teams were selected to compete in the 2007 Solar Decathlon. In the fall of 2009, teams from colleges and universities from around the world will again gather to compete. See the 2009 Request for Proposals if you are interested in competing in the 2009 Solar Decathlon.
The student teams spend almost two years designing and building their approximately 800-square-foot homes and preparing for the competition. During the 10-day competition in 2007, students test their homes in contests encompassing all the ways we use energy in our daily lives. Contests range from architecture, livability, and comfort to how well the homes perform tasks such as heating water and powering appliances. Each team must also provide enough solar electricity to power an electric car.
The competition places demands on their buildings' energy systems to maintain the house within a certain temperature range, to provide lighting and run appliances, to charge an electric car, and much more. The teams will generate that energy with photovoltaic (also called solar electric) systems to directly produce electricity and with solar thermal systems for space heating and cooling and water heating.
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is the primary sponsor of the Solar Decathlon. DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) sponsors and manages the event. The American Institute of Architects (AIA), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), BP, and Sprint are title sponsors.
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