Sun Rises On First Day Of Building At Solar Decathlon 2013

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Originally published on 1Sun4All.

After two years of preparing for the Solar Decathlon, teams started reassembling their houses on the Solar Decathlon 2013 competition site on Friday, writes the Department of Energy. The following is more from energy.gov:

Solar Decathlon 2013: Let the Building Begin

Collegiate teams head to their lots to begin construction at the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013. | Image:  Amy Vaughn, Energy Department

Once the houses are complete, the teams will then compete in 10 contests over the course of nine days.

Orange County Great Park is a hive of activity as collegiate teams begin assembling their houses for Solar Decathlon 2013 on the paved runway of this former Marine base.

Solar decathletes get a running start to begin the assembly for their Solar Decathlon houses. Teams only have nine days to get their houses ready for the 10-contest competition. | Image:  ‌Amy Vaughn, Energy Department

The teams-made up of over 1,000 students from more than 25 schools from around the world-started work yesterday on this year’s Solar Decathlon village.

Over the next eight days, students will work long hours to assemble their energy-efficient, solar-powered houses. From securing their foundations and installing their solar arrays to testing energy usage and decorating their houses, the teams have a lot of work ahead of them. Once the houses are complete, the teams will then compete in 10 contests over the course of nine days to gauge each house’s performance, livability and affordability.

Students from Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology are using a PV system to power all their electricity needs during assembly. Their goal is to be completely renewable, including during construction on the competition site. | Image:  Richard King, Energy Department

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During the next few days, we’ll be sharing photo updates from the competition site. These photos highlight the first day of building, check back tomorrow for more photos. Visit Energy.gov to see more photos from the first day.

For a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to compete in the Solar Decathlon, check out our Solar Decathlon 2013 blog series on energy.gov/solar-decathlon.

It’s an exciting time as we are in the final stretch in preparing for the Solar Decathlon 2013 and XPO. The opening day for the event, October 3, is only a few days away.

It’s FREE! Public hours will be from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily:

• Thursday, October 3 – Sunday, October 6, 2013
• Thursday, October 10 – Sunday, October 13, 2013