Let the games begin [solar powered homes]

The 2002 Solar Decathlon challenged students to create, and operate, energy-efficient solar-powered homes. The competition also required that the solar-powered homes be designed and constructed such that they could be transported to Washington, DC, set up in a solar village on the National Mall for competition, and then removed from the Mall. The participants competed in ten different contests. Seven of these contests were based strictly on energy. This article outlines the ten contests and discusses the design issues and transportation and setup issues.