Team Illinois in 2nd Place at DOE Solar Decathlon

With two days left of the Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon in Washington, DC, Team Illinois is currently in second place behind Team California. As of this post, Team Germany narrowly sits behind them with just a couple categories remaining to be scored.

The Solar Decathlon brings teams from all over the world to the National Mall in Washington, DC to literally build a home on the Mall. The houses are scored in 10 contests: Architecture, Market Viability, Engineering, Lighting Design, Communications, Comfort Zone, Hot Water, Appliances, Home Entertainment and Net Metering.

Team Illinois is made up of students from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. The Gable House is constructed using wood from a 100 year old barn that's outfitted with highly efficient solar panels. The combination of design and energy generation allows the house to generate 4 times as much energy as it consumes.

Take a tour of the home through its construction in the video below.

Check back to the DOE Solar Decathlon website for tons of media and up to the minute scoring.

Also check out UIUC's Gable Home page for more information on their house.