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While the previous three Solar Decathlons offered many worthwhile visions of green building designs powered by the sun, this year’s edition has an extra resonance, even gravitas compared to the earlier events. The temporary eco-village erected on the National Mall in the heart of Washington, DC, now occupies that hallowed ground with a green-conscious, solar-enthusiastic administration in the White House and especially a Steven Chu-led Department of Energy that take the creativity on display (and which they help sponsor with $100K for each team) with more seriousness than the carbon-based cynics among their fossil fuel-beguiled predecessors. The houses assembled these past few weeks and now open to public view feature an inspired and sometimes whimsical (and now net-metered) collection of architecture, building materials, energy efficiency features, and the like, but the competition has Solar with a capital “S” in its title for a reason. While I can’t be on the Mall to see the fruits of the 20 multinational university teams’ labors in person, it hasn’t stopped me from looking into what photovoltaics have been deployed.