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Orange County Great Park, Irvine, California
October 8-18, 2015

Volunteer Roles

Volunteers worked alongside U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 organizers in a variety of roles. Learn more about these volunteer role opportunities:

Greeters welcome visitors to the Solar Decathlon and provide general information about the competition, house and docent tours, and food and restroom locations. In addition, greeters hand out event programs. Standing and walking for the duration of the shift is required.

Docent-guided tours are offered every 15 minutes from the Welcome Tent. In addition to performing the functions of greeters, docents lead simple, 20- to 30-minute group tours of the village and provide a one-to-two sentence overview of each house. (Talking points are supplied.) Docents should be comfortable interacting with the public and able to answer questions about energy efficiency, solar energy technologies, and the 10 contests of the Solar Decathlon. Docents are required to do extensive study to prepare their tours. (Talking points are supplied.) Standing and walking for the duration of the shift is required.

Shuttle bus speakers welcome visitors and provide an introduction to the Solar Decathlon as visitors ride a shuttle between the parking area and the Solar Decathlon Village.

Visitor liaisons monitor line wait times, count visitors, and answer basic wayfinding questions. Standing and walking for the duration of the shift is required.

Registration volunteers register volunteers at the start and completion of their shifts. Duties include confirming registration forms are complete, collecting and filing required forms, issuing T-shirts and wristbands, taking photographs, and additional tasks as assigned. Moderate lifting is required. This is a seated position. We would prefer that registration volunteers sign up for three or more shifts in this role.

Mentors greet middle-school field trip groups and stay with their assigned group until the buses return for the end of the school day, at approximately 2 p.m. There are rotating activities to guide the students through, including about two hours in the Solar Decathlon Village and up to 45 minutes for lunch. Standing and walking for the duration of the shift is required.

Site operations water delivery/retrieval assistants help with water delivery to and retrieval from the Solar Decathlon team houses. These volunteers must be physically fit and able to lift heavy items. Personal protective equipment is required.