Some 800 students from 20 universities in four countries (U.S., Canada, Germany and Spain) built the solar-powered village on the National Mall. Teams had until Wednesday, Oct. 7, to assemble the homes, and are competing in 10 contests from Oct. 8-16. The homes are open to the public from Oct. 9-13 and Oct. 15-18. Each team got $100,000 from the Energy Department to design its home over the last two years, then transport it and assemble it on the National Mall. The department, for its part, hopes to get a payback over time: research that leads to reduced costs for solar technology.
