UNC Charlotte is among a select group of 20 teams worldwide that will compete in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon. The campus community is invited to learn more about this prestigious, green-movement competition through a series of talks.

The Solar Decathlon Lecture Series will be held at 12:30 p.m., Thursdays, in the College of Health and Human Services, Room 145, from Feb. 23 through April 26, (except for the March 1 presentation, which will be in CHHS, Room 147). The eight lectures in the series will focus on a variety of topics, starting with “What is the Solar Decathlon?” that will be presented by Chris Jarrett, director of the School of Architecture in the College of Arts + Architecture.

The remaining talks are:

• “Past Decathlon Houses I: Architectural Perspective” on March 1
• “Solar Power/Building Integrated Photovoltaics” on March 15
• “Emerging Technologies in Lighting” on March 29
• “CNC/Digital Fabrication” on April 5
• “Meeting with the Solar Decathlon Director” on April 12
• “Past Decathlon Houses II: Engineering Perspective” on April 19
• “Affordability and Market Appeal” on April 26

Teams in the Solar Decathlon will begin a two-year process to design, construct and test their homes before reassembling them at the Solar Decathlon 2013 competition site in Irvine, Calif. Like the Olympic Decathlon, Solar Decathlon teams compete in 10 different categories, such as architecture and engineering, energy production, affordability and market appeal.

For more information, email Mona Azarbayjani, project manager for UNC Charlotte’s Solar Decathlon team and assistant professor, Center for Integrated Building Design Research, School of Architecture, at mazarbay@uncc.edu.