Solar Homes in the Near Future?

cNet News: This summer, teams from 20 universities are busy building enough homes to make an entire “solar village.” The off-grid, self-powering homes will be on display for 10 days in October on the National Mall in Washington D.C., competing in the Department of Energy’s 2007 Solar Decathlon.
The point of the competition is not to create new building technologies. On the contrary, entrants have to use commercially available products to demonstrate that a sun-powered home can be commercially reproduced. For a university like MIT with access to high-efficiency, NASA-grade solar electric panels, that was an unwelcome constraint.
A group from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has already begun construction of its off-grid solar-powered home, called MIT Solar 7 and drawing in students and advisers with expertise in everything from electrical storage to mechanical engineering. It’s part of an MIT-wide commitment to energy-related research to address climate change.
As the student leader on the project, Fucetola, who spends four days a week at the site, has become something of an evangelist, recruiting volunteers by asking interested passersby to get involved. “I tell people in elevators about this,” he said.
The team hopes to sell off its creation as a way to fund MIT’s entry in the next Solar Decathlon competition in two years. (Realtors have expressed interest.)
Energy geeks compete for coolest solar home [cNet News]