Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
2024 Design Challenge
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.
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.
