Register to Compete
The U.S. Department of Energy announced the sixth round of the Solar District Cup—a collegiate competition designed to bring together multidisciplinary teams to design energy systems for a mixed-use campus or district. Diverse students in engineering, urban planning, finance, sustainability, communications, and related majors will form teams to reimagine how energy is generated, managed, and used.
As students design their energy systems, they will present solutions to pressing solar deployment challenges while making professional contacts and gaining skills needed to enter the clean energy workforce.
Collegiate teams will base their energy system designs around the needs of real-world district use cases. Students will have two options for their district use cases:
- Assignment to a district use case defined by competition organizers.
- Self-selection of a district use case. All student teams choosing to bring their own district will compete in a division against other teams bringing their own districts.
The Solar District Cup Class of 2025 will accept collegiate team registrations on a rolling basis, which means students can begin work and access learning resources on a timeline that best aligns with their academic calendar.
Register to compete for the full academic year by September 26, 2024. Registered student teams will receive their assigned district use case and access to modeling tools within two weeks of registration, which opens August 16. Register for an informational webinar on August 15 at 4 p.m. ET.
In addition to rolling registration throughout the fall, the Solar District Cup Class of 2025 will allow for one-semester or two-quarter participation in the winter/spring.
The competition is administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Learn more about previous rounds of the Solar District Cup.