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Solar Decathlon Kickoff Webinar, Plus New Mentor Opportunities

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People Standing for a photo

2024 Design Challenge

Join the Kickoff Webinar for the 2025 Design Challenge on Sept. 10

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® 2025 Design Challenge is open for registration!

Interested in designing buildings that better serve your community? Join the kickoff webinar on Sept. 10 at noon ET to learn about the changes to the competition for this year, including division changes and the new “Innovative Retrofit Project” and “Innovative Equity Project” awards. The webinar will be geared toward interested students and faculty members.

Be sure to register your team for the 2025 Design Challenge no later than Oct. 23 to be able to participate. Questions? Email SDDesign@nrel.gov.

Design for a Better-Built World – Join the Solar Decathlon 2025 Design Challenge!

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Group of students standing together, facing the camera and smiling with their hands raised in waves. Students from the University of Arizona won multiple awards at the 2024 Design Challenge for their partnership with the Hopi Tribe to design the Tawa’ovi Community Development project. Photo: NREL.

Registration is now open for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® 2025 Design Challenge! In this challenge, interdisciplinary collegiate teams will create efficient, resilient, and sustainable buildings that meet community needs as part of DOE’s longest-running student competition.

Each year, Design Challenge teams compete to create high-performance, low-carbon building designs that address real-world issues such as existing building retrofits, community impacts, affordability, and resilience. Learn more about the competition through the 2024 Design Challenge Recap video.

One Week Left to Register for the Solar Decathlon 2024 Design Challenge!

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Students and faculty from the 2023 Design Challenge Howard University team pose with their trophy. (Photo by Vern Slocum, NREL) Students and faculty from the 2023 Design Challenge Howard University team pose with their trophy. (Photo by Vern Slocum, NREL)

Only one week is left to register for the 2024 Design Challenge with the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon®! 

The Design Challenge is an annual collegiate competition challenging interdisciplinary teams to create zero energy building designs that address real-world issues such as climate resilienceembodied carbonexisting building retrofits, and community impact.  

Join the Design Challenge Kickoff Webinar—9/5/23, 1 p.m. EDT

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a group of students jumping for a team photo

Thinking about joining the 2024 Design Challenge?

Jump into your U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® competition experience at the kickoff webinar!

Join us on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, at 1 p.m. EDT to hear about:

  • Design Challenge changes for 2024, including new division breakdowns and the 10 updated contests.
  • Mentor program opportunities for alumni and current teams.
  • Competition timelines, including the semifinal and final events.
  • And more…

Add the Sept. 5 kickoff webinar to your calendar today!

Calling the Next Sustainable Building Professionals—Register for the Solar Decathlon 2024 Design Challenge

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Are you a student or professor interested in transforming buildings to tackle the climate crisis?

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® is seeking collegiate student participants from diverse majors to join the next round of the zero energy building design competition. Students from collegiate institutions in the United States and around the world are encouraged to form interdisciplinary teams and register!

Calling the Next Generation of Sustainable Building Professionals—Solar Decathlon Announces 2024 Design Challenge

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Several students and faculty pose with scale models of their sustainable building designs. Solar Decathlon 2023 Design Challenge teams showcase models of their sustainable building designs during the Competition Event at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Photo by Vern Slocum, NREL.

Are you a collegiate student interested in transforming buildings to serve communities and the planet? The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® is seeking student participants from diverse majors to join the next round of the zero-energy building design competition.

The Design Challenge is an annual design competition challenging interdisciplinary teams of collegiate students to create high-performance, low-carbon building designs that address real-world issues related to climate resilience, affordability, and environmental justice.

DOE Announces 21st Annual Solar Decathlon Winners

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Ball State University, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and The Cooper Union Named 2023 Build and Design Challenge Winners

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the winners of the 21st annual Solar Decathlon®, DOE’s longest-running student competition. The annual collegiate contest challenges the next generation of building professionals to design and construct high-performance, low-carbon buildings powered by renewable energy, while promoting student innovation, STEM education, and workforce development opportunities in the buildings industry. Ball State University, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art won the top honors at this year’s competition and were announced at the Solar Decathlon Competition Event at DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado yesterday.

Fifty-Seven Teams Advance to Solar Decathlon 2023 Design Challenge Final

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Renderings from a selection of Solar Decathlon 2023 Design Challenge finalist teams. Renderings from a selection of Solar Decathlon 2023 Design Challenge finalist teams.
Graphic by NREL

Fifty-seven teams from 63 collegiate institutions have earned a spot in the final stage of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® 2023 Design Challenge.

“Solar Decathlon has pioneered energy efficient building designs for more than two decades; this year’s finalist teams showed there is always room to push the envelope on zero energy buildings,” said Rachel Romero, Design Challenge competition manager.

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