The European Solar Decathlon Starts Today!

This morning marked the start of the <a href="sdeurope.org">2012 European Solar Decathlon</a> in Madrid, Spain - and Inhabitat is on the scene to bring you this year's crop of stunning <a href="http://inhabitat.com/solar-power/">solar-powered</a> homes! <a href="http://www.sdeurope.org/?page_id=779&amp;lang=en">Nineteen collegiate teams</a> from around the world descended upon Madrid's Villa Solar just weeks ago, and they have been battling it out to build the best, the baddest, and the most breath-taking solar-powered house around. Now it's time to put all their designs to the <a href="http://www.sdeurope.org/?page_id=6627&amp;lang=en">test</a> - over the next two weeks, each of the nineteen homes will be evaluated on everything from aesthetics to energy-efficiency and marketability to determine which deserves to be crowned reigning solar champ. Keep checking back for more updates and exclusive photos straight from the competition grounds -- we'll be on site at the Villa Solar for the run of the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/solar-decathlon/">competition</a>!

Designed by the <a href="http://www.dtu.dk/English.aspx">Technical University of Denmark</a>, the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/plus-energy-fold-house-by-team-denmark-can-be-erected-in-multiple-configurations/">Plus Energy FOLD House</a> is a versatile modular home that can be configured in a variety of different ways depending on how its site is laid out.

The <a href="http://inhabitat.com/london-metropolitan-university-students-create-heliomet-sunbloc-solution-for-urban-environments/">Heliomet SunBloc House</a> by the <a href="http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/">London Metropolitan University</a> is designed to be placed on the rooftops of existing buildings, where it will supply electricity and hot water to its neighbors.

Students from Spain's <a href="http://www.ehu.es/">Basque University</a> designed the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/spanish-university-students-design-ekihouse-to-simplify-a-sustainable-lifestyle-at-the-solar-decathlon-europe/">Ekihouse</a> - a solar-powered home wrapped in a steel mesh facade.

The <a href="http://inhabitat.com/japans-omotenashi-house-to-promote-a-self-sufficient-lifestyle-at-2012-solar-decathlon-europe/">Omotenashi House</a> by <a href="http://www.chiba-u.ac.jp/e/">Chiba University</a> is a gorgeous solar home wrapped in a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/green-wall/">green wall</a> that was inspired by traditional Japanese architecture.

<a href="http://wzar.unizar.es/servicios/ingles/prese.htm">Team Zaragoza</a>'s <a href="http://inhabitat.com/cylindrical-casa-pi-by-sde-2012-team-zaragoza-produces-twice-as-much-energy-as-it-uses/">Casa Pi</a> is the only circular house in this year's <a href="http://inhabitat.com/solar-decathlon/">European Solar Decathlon</a>. The sun powered cylindrical home is designed to generate two times more energy than it consumes while cutting water use by one half.

China's <a href="http://www.tongji.edu.cn/english/">Tongji University</a> drew upon Daoist principles to design the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/east-meets-west-in-tongji-universitys-para-eco-house-design-for-the-european-solar-decathlon/">Para Eco-House</a> - a self-sufficient home that takes advantage of Passivhaus strategies to keep its energy use to a minimum.