Penn State professors are looking to assemble a team of students to begin a two-year competition called the Solar Decathlon. Penn State was recently accepted into the competition with other universities to design and build a solar-powered house to be tested in Washington, D.C., next year.

The competition is sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy, said Dave Riley, director of the Center for Sustainability.

Riley said students from all facets of the university are needed to make the competition a success, and although there will be a core team of about 20, he predicted hundreds of students will play a role.

The decathlon will be broken down into detailed, incremental steps, Riley said. For example, the fundraising plan is due in March, and a rough design plan is due in June. All the steps culminate in the actual construction of the house in spring of next year.

"It's a long cycle, but it's all happening fast," Riley said.

The teams will face off for six days in Washington, D.C., where students not only show off their solar abodes, but live in them as well.

"You are asked to do laundry, cook meals and charge the electric car," Riley said.

Scott Wing, assistant professor of architecture, said there are basically three types of solar technology that will be used.

The first system is called passive solar energy, where the sun simply heats an object, he said. The teams might strategically place a concrete slab in the house to be warmed by the sun through a window.

The next system uses active solar energy to heat up water for the house instead of using natural gas, Wing said.

It consists of a large black box on the roof with lots of small capillaries filled with water. The sun heats the box, which heats the water, which is then pumped into the house, he added.

Photovoltaic cells (PVs) are the third system. They are panels that convert solar energy to power things in the house, and any excess energy can be sold back to the power company, Wing said.

To help foster creative ideas for the competition, the Center for Sustainability is holding a mini competition at Penn State, said Lisa Iulo, assistant professor of architecture.

"The competition ... is intended to get more students at our university interested," she said.

The smaller Penn State competition includes categories ranging from home design and public relations to logo design and fundraising.

"Most of the teams raised about a half-million dollars to do this," Riley said.

The ideas generated from the competition will help jumpstart the larger Solar Decathlon project, Riley said.

Riley said the reason for having a Solar Decathlon is to promote the use of solar energy.

"At its heart it is designed to further the cause of that technology," he said.

Iulo echoed Riley's thoughts, adding that she thinks this technology is vital for the future.

"I don't think it's 'distant future' technology," she said. "They're all real concerns."