NREL: 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.