Solar Decathlon

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is an international collegiate competition made up of 10 contests that challenge student teams to design and build full-size, solar-powered houses. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends design excellence and smart energy production with innovation, market potential, and energy and water efficiency.

The first Solar Decathlon was held in 2002. The competition has since occurred biennially in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015. The Solar Decathlon 2017 will be located in Denver, Colorado, adjacent to the 61st & Peña station on the University of Colorado A line commuter train connecting Denver International Airport to downtown Union Station. In addition to the competition, Solar Decathlon 2017 will also feature a sustainability expo, professional development and consumer workshops, middle-school education events, and a community festival.

Open to the public and free of charge, the Solar Decathlon allows visitors to tour energy- and water-efficient houses, and gather ideas to save energy and conserve water in their own homes.

The Solar Decathlon 2017 competition is presented by the U.S. Department of Energy and administered by Energetics, Incorporated, a subsidiary of VSE Corporation. Previous competitions were administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Since the first competition in 2002, the Solar Decathlon has expanded internationally to include four additional worldwide competitions in Europe, China, Latin America and Caribbean, and the Middle East. Solar Decathlon Europe was established under a 2007 memorandum of understanding between the United States and Spain , which hosted competitions in 2010 and 2012. France hosted in 2014. The Solar Decathlon China was established with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. Department of Energy, China’s National Energy Administration, Peking University and Applied Materials on January 20, 2011.The first Solar Decathlon China took place in August 2013 in the city of Datong. The next Solar Decathlon China will take place in summer 2017 and was formed through a memorandum of understanding among the United States Department of Energy, the People’s Republic of China, and the China Overseas Development Corporation.

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