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PrintROLLA — Missouri University of Science and Technology has been selected to compete in an international competition to build a solar-powered house.
The U.S. Department of Energy said the Rolla university will field one of 20 teams selected to participate in what's being billed as the 2013 Solar Decathlon.
Over the next two years, the teams will design, build and test their solar-powered, energy-efficient homes before taking them apart and reassembling them for the competition in fall 2013 in Irvine, Calif.
The homes will be judged in 10 categories, including best architecture, engineering and energy production for heating and cooling.
Teams from Missouri Science and Technology also participated in Solar Decathlon competitions in 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2009.
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MS&T has participated in similar competitions for years, but has never taken a grand prize. Past homes got high marks for technical features but low ones for architectural considerations. This might have something to do with MS&T not having a school of architecture.
Past competition homes have been retained and form what's called "Solar Village," on Tenth Street in Rolla.
In one past competition in Washington, D.C. the homes were opened to the public, who were asked to vote on which they liked best. The public said they liked the MS&T home best. Take that, and stick it up your architectural...