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.

Good morning, Washington. Howard University refuses to relegate homecoming to a single weekend’s football game. Instead, the historically black university boasts a multi-day bash that’s said to be unrivaled in the Mid-Atlantic. The 87th annual cultural celebration kicked off last week, and this morning is the university’s spirited homecoming parade. The event kicked off at 9:30 am, so go grab a spot along Georgia Avenue near Banneker High School for a good view of the procession.

The University of Maryland took the top prize at this year’s Solar Decathlon. The competition, which is put on by the U.S. Department of Energy, challenges college teams from around the world to design, build and operate solar-powered houses.

Good morning, Washington. Happy October, and happy new fiscal year. A noticeable drop in temperature this weekend reminds us it’s not too long before we’ll witness a noticeable shift in hues. Some may mourn the loss of warmer days but nearly all of us can look forward to approaching shades of autumn. What the new fiscal year will bring is far less certain.

Head on over to West Potomac Park and you will find teams of students from all over the world, putting the finishing touches on two years of work. Now in its fifth edition, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon brings together teams of university students to create and build houses run solely on solar energy.

The 2011 Solar Decathlon — which had been uprooted from its regular National Mall location and heavily rumored to be taking place at National Harbor — won’t have to move too far, after all. According to a letter sent to sponsors of the event by the Department of Energy, the Decathlon will be taking place this fall in West Potomac Park, on the banks of the Potomac River and along the path between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials.

When the organizers of the 2011 Solar Decathlon decided that they would pursue plans to move the event off the National Mall, there was hope that the event might still take place inside the District of Columbia. Such hopes, however, appear to have been extinguished: according to this report, organizers are close to signing a deal to move the efficient-housing showcase to National Harbor.

Oh, our Managing Editor will not be pleased: a tipster points us to this Solar Novus Today report, which states that the 2011 Solar Decathalon — the biennial U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored gathering of collegiate designers and engineers from around the world to show off brilliant, energy-efficient homes — will not take place on the National Mall. Why? The event is apparently “impacting” the Mall’s “long-term health.”

One of our favorite events on the National Mall is the biennial Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, where colleges from around the world compete to build the most energy efficient houses. We’re in an in-between year, so let’s turn to the European Solar Decathlon and congratulate Virginia Tech, announced yesterday as the first place winner for their entry, Lumenhaus. As the website notes, “Inspired in the Farnsworth house by Mies Van…

A Cornell University team member surveys the landscaping in front of Silo House. Photo Credit: Angel Borrego Cubero/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon By DCist Contributor Lauren Evans Almost overnight, the National Mall has been transformed from an expanse of sickly grass to a prim neighborhood. The houses therein have everything yours does – hot water, appliances, lights and climate control – with one major exception: an electricity bill. The Solar Decathlon, a biennial…