Skip navigation to main content. U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon | Powered by the Sun

Click photo to view a larger image.

Photo of hundreds of people on a walkway between several houses at the Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Capitol Building is visible in the background. Photo of a line of people standing on a ramp leading up to a house.

The visitors who come to the Mall in the morning at the beginning of the tour hours are generally rewarded with shorter lines, as seen here at the University of Cincinnati house.

Photo of a young man inside an office of a house talking to two people.

A member of the Lawrence Institute of Technology team talks to Communications jurors. The students have developed excellent presentation skills, and it shows during this contest.

Solar Decathlon 2007

Daily Journal - October 14, 2007

More Sun, More Crowds—Just the Way We Like It

Another beautiful, sunny day at the Solar Decathlon—we're so fortunate! And, just as we experienced yesterday, thousands and thousands of people came to the Solar Decathlon to see these beautiful, high-performance houses. Pair that with hundreds of college and university students who are proud to show them off, and you've got a winning combination.

So many of our visitors have questions about where they can purchase the items they see in the homes. For those questions, we like to refer people to the Decathlon product directory, which we also encourage Web visitors to use. It's interesting to see that while some of the products used on the Decathlon houses are custom-designed, the great majority of them are available on the market right now.

The Architecture, Market Appeal, and Communications juries finished their visits to the houses today and will soon wrap up their judging. Expect announcements of those placings throughout this next week.

The jurors worked hard (thank you very much) for two long days. We so appreciate the contribution of these consummate professionals. They take time from their extremely busy schedules to interact with the students, who find the encounter an extremely valuable learning experience.

Susan Maxman of SMP Architects, a member of the Architecture Jury, was clearly with impressed with the Solar Decathlon houses, saying they were 100% better than she anticipated. "They don't look nearly as good in the pictures as they do in person," she said.