US DOE Solar Decathalon: Washington D.C.

Recently I came across this competition that is held every two years (starting in 2002), hosted by the US Department of Energy. Teams from colleges all across the nation and even the world design energy efficient homes that are powered completely by solar energy. They ship the houses to DC and set them up and live in the houses for two weeks. Once the contest is over the houses return to their place of origin and are setup up to be used. Santa Clara University entered the contest in 2007, and that house is now setup on the campus, open for visitation.  There are some cool houses on the site so take a look around.

Team Alberta

Team Ontario

Team California

Solar Deacathalon Link:http://www.solardecathlon.gov/index.html 


Average US household annually: 14,000 kWh monthly: 1166 kWh daily: 39 kWh 
Solar Decathalon Average house daily use: 22 kWh 
Average energy produced: 13 kWh
 Annual net consumption: 2,880 kWh 


 Only half the entries come in less than $300,000. These numbers may seem affordable in a market like D.C. or the Bay Area, but they are well above average home prices for much of the country.  This is definitely a step in the right direction though and once we can bring construction costs down these energy-efficient homes could become a reality