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<span lang=”EN”>Cheerful, albeit exhausted solar decathletes are headed home this week after 21 days of excitement on the National Mall.</span>
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<span lang=”EN”>For the second decathlon in a row, <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KSzjrrxP-Y&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=17261D212D263ECD&index=4″ target=”_blank”>Team Germany</a> took first place, impressing judges and peers with their <a href=”http://www.solardecathlon.tu-darmstadt.de/home/home.de.jsp” target=”_blank”>SurPLUShome</a>, which used the maximum building dimensions acceptable by competition standards. In addition to first place overall, Team Germany was recognized for excellence in the Architecture, Lighting Design, Comfort Zone, and Hot Water contests.</span>
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<span lang=”EN”>University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign took second place with <a href=”http://www.solardecathlon.uiuc.edu/” target=”_blank”>Gable Home</a>, a small home intended to pay tribute to its cultural roots while integrating advanced solar technology.</span>
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<span lang=”EN”>Team California’s <a href=”http://www.refracthouse.com/” target=”_blank”>Refract House</a> took third with its innovative design and excellence in Architecture, Communications, Engineering and Market Viability contests.</span>
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<span lang=”EN”>Check out the video below to see Team Germany’s reaction when the Solar Decathlon 2009 winners are announced.</span>
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<p>To get the whole story on this year’s Solar Decathlon, take a look at these previous updates.</p>
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<a href=”https://www.motherearthnews.com/green-homes/solar-decathlon-2009″ target=”_self”>It’s Almost Time for the 2009 Solar Decathlon</a>
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<a href=”https://www.motherearthnews.com/green-homes/solar-decathlon-houses-leave-home” target=”_self”>The Houses Leave Home</a>
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<a href=”https://www.motherearthnews.com/green-homes/little-house-big-town” target=”_self”>The Little House from a Big Town</a>
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