The international Solar Decathlon movement is alive and well and prospering. There are a lot of new developments in the five international Solar Decathlons being planned in 2018 and 2019.

By Megan Close and Daniel Rubin
Video by Garrett Bourcier and Cody Williams

While the U.S. Department of Energy closes the chapter on Solar Decathlon 2017, our fellow global competition organizers are gearing up for multiple international events. Next year, Solar Decathlon China and the first Solar Decathlon Middle East will take place. In 2019, Solar Decathlon Europe, Solar Decathlon Latin American and the Caribbean, and the first Solar Decathlon Africa will host solar villages inspired by the U.S. competition.

A brand new city sprang up—almost overnight—about 15 miles southwest of Paris. You won’t find a cookie-cutter template for design here, as each house is unique in function, form, and style. The one thing all of the houses have in common is they are designed, built, and tested to operate on pure, green, and clean solar energy.

When I arrived onsite yesterday, Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 student teams were in the middle of the final phase of heavy construction of their self-designed and self-built project houses. The scene was filled with intense energy as students—fully equipped with hard hats, steel-toed boots, and safety gear—moved around their construction sites in a sort of synchronized dance of home production. The air smelled of dirt, lumber, and teamwork.

On June 28, 20 competition houses from 17 countries and three continents open to visitors in La Cité du Soleil—Solar Decathlon Europe’s solar city in Versailles, France.

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon’s influence is expanding around the world. This competition, we have international teams from Belgium, Canada, China, and New Zealand that bring different perspectives and add to the debate about how to design sustainable homes. We love their fresh approaches and cultural influences. Even the cricket games in New Zealand’s side yard, which just happens to be a softball diamond, adds a twist to the neighborhood.

Solar Decathlon Europe organizers accept the Sustainable Energy Europe Award for Communicating. (Courtesy of the European Union Sustainable Energy Week)

Solar Decathlon Europe was honored last week by the European Commission with a Sustainable Energy Europe Award in the Communicating category. The annual awards reward best-in-class initiatives that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency in the European Union. More than 300 initiatives were considered in this year's competition.

The Communicating category recognizes projects “that create awareness about … energy challenges, that change perceptions, and that bring about endorsement of energy efficiency and/or renewable energy.”