By Linda Silverman

Compelling. That’s what the stories behind the Solar Decathlon represent to me. Normally, I am focused on the current competition – working with the university teams and our partners to host the Energy Department’s largest public event showcasing student-built solar houses. But lately, I’ve had the chance to learn more about where the 2013 and 2015 competition houses ended up as part of a major website update. That’s why I’m proud to say our Where are the Houses Now historical archive now covers the fate of all past U.S. Solar Decathlon competition houses from 2002 to 2015.

Team Austria from the Vienna University of Technology has won the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013.

Czech Technical University took first place in the highly competitive Architecture Contest and Vienna University of Technology received top honors in the Communications Contest this morning at the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013.

At an awards ceremony this morning, winners of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013 Affordability and Market Appeal contests took center stage by demonstrating that innovative, energy-efficient houses can be cost-effective and appealing to a variety of target markets.

One of the most challenging aspects of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is something very few people, including the team members, see. Each of the student-built, solar-powered houses must travel from collegiate campuses across the United States and around the world to the competition site in Irvine, California. As the decathletes watch two years of hard work being hauled away, they are left to hope that everything arrives safely at Orange County Great Park later this month.