The winning entry in last year’s Solar Decathlon. Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy

The Energy Department’s biannual design competition for solar-powered houses is returning in 2013, just not on the Potomac. Or anywhere around here, for that matter.

Instead, the next edition of the contest will be in Irvine, Calif., where it will be held at the Orange County Great Park, formerly the site of a Marine Corps air base. Instead of cloudy skies and gawking tourists, the teams of students from around the world who compete in the event can erect their eco-friendly buildings in a sunny environment surrounded by freeways and office parks.

A group of students from American University, Catholic University and the George Washington University will make up “Team Capitol DC” at next year’s Solar Decathlon, possibly to create something of a local winning streak at the event. (Last year’s top prize went to a team from the University of Maryland.)

This isn’t the first time the Solar Decathlon has been moved. After the first few were held on the National Mall, the event moved to West Potomac Park in 2011. But after the Energy Department started taking bids from other cities interested in hosting the event, the City Paper’s Lydia DePillis warned us last August a move like this one was possible.