One of the best ways to experience the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is by volunteering. Volunteers work alongside event organizers to ensure Solar Decathlon 2015 runs smoothly and visitors have an exceptional experience.

Tornadoes are common in Missouri. But the twister that hit Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011, provided special motivation for the Crowder College and Drury University team’s U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 project. That monster storm, packing winds greater than 200 mph, killed 161 people and caused billions of dollars in damage near Crowder College’s campus, which is only 80 miles from Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. Although tornadoes are common, natives don’t take their destructive power lightly.

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 team from University of Florida, National University of Singapore, and Santa Fe College has set out to design and build a house that, in its own words, “basks in the sun.” And its Solar Living House does exactly that.

When Hurricane Sandy crashed into the East Coast in October 2012, it caused an estimated $65 billion in damages along with untold human misery. But something positive has come from that disaster. The superstorm inspired the Stevens Institute of Technology’s U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 project.

Curious what the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 teams are planning for the competition? Can’t wait until October to see their houses in person? You’re in luck. We’ve posted a treasure trove of information about the team houses—including computer-animated walkthroughs, renderings, and video interviews of the decathletes discussing their projects—on the Solar Decathlon website.

Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison, is returning as a sustaining sponsor of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon by becoming the 2015 competition’s host utility sponsor.

Sacramento is nicknamed the City of Trees, so it made sense for the California State University, Sacramento, team to showcase nature in its U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 project. The team’s Reflect Home does just that by embracing the city’s sense of expansive greenery.

The Missouri University of Science and Technology team is building the latest addition to its campus colony of student-designed, energy-efficient houses. The team is creating a “nest” to compete in Solar Decathlon 2015. After the October competition, the Nest Home—designed for a growing family—will return to the Rolla, Missouri, campus to take its place alongside the school’s 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2013 Solar Decathlon competition houses as part of a student housing and research site.

Calling all clean energy companies! You are invited to participate in the Innovation Pavilion at the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015. A consumer exhibit for clean energy products and services, the 50-booth Innovation Pavilion will be located next to the Solar Decathlon village, where visitors will pass on their way to and from the student-designed competition houses.

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is pleased to announce that Schneider Electric has signed on as a Solar Decathlon 2015 sustaining sponsor. A sustaining sponsor since 2009, Schneider Electric will provide the engineering design and supplemental equipment for our microgrid—a temporary, two-way power flow electrical system to interconnect the Solar Decathlon village and collegiate team competition houses. The company is also supplying the engineering design, hardware, software, and operation of the electrical microgrid monitoring system, which provides data for contest scoring.