U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon: 2025 Design Challenge

Registration is now open for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® 2025 Design Challenge! In this challenge, interdisciplinary collegiate teams will create efficient, resilient, and sustainable buildings that meet community needs as part of DOE’s longest-running student competition.

Each year, Design Challenge teams compete to create high-performance, low-carbon building designs that address real-world issues such as existing building retrofits, community impacts, affordability, and resilience. Learn more about the competition through the 2024 Design Challenge Recap video.

Collegiate students and faculty—start gathering your team and register by October 23, 2024, to compete in the 2025 Design Challenge.

In 2025, the Design Challenge will feature new building types, as well as new awards:

• An expansion to the Education Building Division will allow teams to explore educational facilities for both K–12 and higher education students.
• A new Open Commercial Division will allow students to address zero-energy solutions for commercial spaces of their choosing, including civic and public buildings, hospitality, and retail.
• An “Innovative Retrofit Project Award” will recognize a team that incorporates cutting-edge technologies and strategies through an existing building retrofit.

Join the kickoff webinar on September 10, 2024, to learn more about the updates for this year. Additional information on the divisions, the 10 contests that make up the decathlon, and more can be found in the 2025 Design Challenge rules.

“Last year we had more than 100 participating teams from 11 different countries who were passionate about giving back to communities through sustainable building design,” said Holly Jamesen Carr, director of the Solar Decathlon. “It’s amazing to bring together so many students from around the world to tackle the climate challenges we face through this competition.”

Mark your calendars for key competition dates and register today!

• July 2024: Team registration opens and rules are released.
• September 10, 2024: Kickoff webinar.
• October 23, 2024: Team registration closes.
• December 3, 2024: Deadline to submit an encouraged but optional preliminary project summary.
• February  21–22, 2025: Students present their preliminary designs to industry expert jurors at a virtual semifinal competition event.
• April 25–27, 2025: Selected finalist teams compete in person or virtually during the competition event hosted at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado.