Ready, Set, Go! 120-Plus Teams To Compete in Solar Decathlon 2023 Design Challenge
Working to solve the climate crisis one building at a time, 124 teams from 97 collegiate institutions are participating in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® 2023 Design Challenge.
As part of the Solar Decathlon 2023 Design Challenge, top collegiate students from across the globe compete to design high-performance, low-carbon buildings powered by renewable energy. Explore the participating teams map to see if your alma mater or a nearby collegiate institution will be competing.
Collegiate Institutions Competing in the 2023 Design Challenge:
- Academy of Art University, San Francisco, California
- Alfred State College, State University of New York, Alfred, New York
- Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina
- Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana
- Bellingham Technical College, Bellingham, Washington
- Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
- British Columbia Institute of Technology, Burnaby, British Columbia
- California State University–Fresno, Fresno, California
- Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
- Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Chapman University, Orange, California
- Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia
- Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
- College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita, California
- Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
- Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
- Ferris State University, Big Rapids, Michigan
- Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, Massachusetts
- Ghana Christian University College, Amrahia, Ghana
- Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Ar-Rayyan, Qatar
- Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia
- Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, Hanoi, Vietnam
- Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Howard University, Washington, D.C.
- Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois
- Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, India
- Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, Rupnagar, India
- Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana
- Johnson College, Scranton, Pennsylvania
- Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas
- Lehigh University, Bethlehem , Pennsylvania
- Loughborough University, Loughborough, United Kingdom
- Manhattan College, Riverdale, New York
- Marywood University, Scranton, Pennsylvania
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi
- Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri
- Monash University, Clayton, Australia
- Myongji University, Seoul, South Korea
- National Engineering School of Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia
- National School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tunis, Tunisia
- Navajo Technical University, Crownpoint, New Mexico
- New York City College of Technology, Brooklyn, New York
- NewSchool of Architecture & Design, San Diego, California
- North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, North Carolina
- Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts
- Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
- Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma
- Pars University of Architecture and Art, Tehran, Iran
- Pennsylvania College of Technology, Williamsport, Pennsylvania
- Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
- State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York
- Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York
- Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico
- Tehran University of Art, Tehran, Iran
- Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
- The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York City, New York
- The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
- The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
- The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
- The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
- The University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, British Columbia
- The University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire
- The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
- The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma
- Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia
- Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Ontario
- Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica, Ambato, Ecuador
- Universitatea Spiru Haret, Bucharest, Romania
- University of Alaska–Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska
- University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
- University of California–San Diego, La Jolla, California
- University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
- University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati , Ohio
- University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
- University of Massachusetts–Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts
- University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
- University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tennessee
- University of the Witwatersrand–Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
- University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
- University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia
- University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario
- University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
- University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center, Vermont
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Alexandria, Virginia
- Weber State University, Ogden, Utah
- Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts
- West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia
- Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky
- Western New England University, Springfield, Massachusetts
- Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
This year's teams represent 16 countries and nearly every continent, with 21 new collegiate institutions and 76 returning institutions.
2023 Design Challenge teams will present their zero-energy building designs at a virtual semifinal event in February 2023. Up to 60 finalist teams will compete during an expert-juried final competition event in April 2023 at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, or virtually.
Many teams use the Design Challenge as an on-ramp to the two-year Solar Decathlon Build Challenge, where teams construct or renovate permanent zero-energy houses in their local communities.
Additional details are available on the Solar Decathlon website.