Design

Solar Decathalon 2011: This Year's Biggest Ideas

University teams bring their net-zero housing concepts to Washington
Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon

The future of solar energy – and, in particular, Washington’s financial investment in its cutting-edge application – has been on shaky ground since Congress began investigating the imploded solar-panel producer Solyndra earlier this month. But this week, as the latest officials are dragged to Capitol Hill, there’s hope for renewable enthusiasts barely two miles away from the National Mall.

Hundreds of university architecture, design and engineering students have been constructing a massive solar village on the Tidal Basin, a futuristic demonstration site wedged between memorials for FDR and Thomas Jefferson. This is, in fact, another Department of Energy project, although arguably a more wholesome one. The biannual event, called the Solar Decathlon, has brought 20 university teams to town to envision what affordable net-zero housing might look like (and to test – as this is a competition – whether such houses could actually run a load of laundry and power a true hot shower).