The best solar-powered house competition...

For three weeks in October, the U.S. Department of Energy will host the biennial Solar Decathlon at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Solar Decathlon is a competition of 20 teams of college and university students to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. There are 10 subjective and objective contests in these categories: architecture, market viability, engineering, lighting design, communications, comfort zone, hot water, appliances, home entertainment, and net metering.

The competition furthers several different goals -- to educate students and the public, to help promote solar technologies, to promote whole building design, and to demonstrate the potential for net zero energy homes. Plus, the homes are beautiful and exciting. They're completely solar-powered, and we'll take a more exhaustive look at the fully constructed homes soon. In the meantime, here's a preview of each home. Any thoughts on an early leader?

1. SEED [pod] by The University of Arizona (DOE page).

2. Silo House by Cornell University (DOE page).

3. Gable Home by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (DOE page).

4. Interlock House by Iowa State University (DOE page).

5. s.ky blue house by University of Kentucky (DOE page).

6. Icon Solar House by University of Minnesota (DOE page).

7. Ohio-centric Solar House by The Ohio State University (DOE page).

8. Natural Fusion House by Penn State (DOE page).

9. CASH by Universidad de Puerto Rico (DOE page).

10. ZEROW House by Rice University (DOE page).

11. SolAbode by Team Alberta (DOE page).

12. Curio House by Team Boston (DOE page).

13. Refract House by Team California (DOE page).

14. surPLUShome by Team Germany (DOE page).

15. Show-Me House by Team Missouri (DOE page).

16. The North House by Team Ontario/BC (DOE page).

17. The B&W House by Team Spain (DOE page).

18. BeauSoleil House by University of Louisiana at Lafayette (DOE page).

19. Lumenhaus by Virginia Tech (DOE page).

20. Meltwater House by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (DOE page).

Rendering credits: Department of Energy Solar Decathlon.