Yesterday, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it was moving the Solar Decathlon from its normal spot on the National Mall to another spot, still on the National Mall.

This year, the decathlon will be held near the FDR Monument, which is on the mall, but not in plain sight of the Capitol as it previously was.

The Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior said in January that the event would have to be relocated because its impact on the National Mall was not sustainable and conflicted with the National Park Service’s restoration plans.

That announcement was followed by more than a month of speculation that it would be located elsewhere in Washington, D.C., or perhaps even elsewhere in the country.

The decathlon hosts homes, showcasing photovoltaics and other solar technologies, designed by 20 different college and university teams from around the world.

Teams start planning the moving process years in advance of the contest and attract sponsors based on the prominence of the event. The homes are built onsite in about a week and compete in ten events to determine which is the best.

Contestants as well as politicians protested the move of the solar event, for a variety of reasons, and apparently their protests were heard.

“I think the protests had a lot to do with it, particularly getting Senators and Representatives to step up, which they did quite willingly. New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez (D) took a leading role in that; he rallied his peers,” said Clinton Andrews, a professor at the E.J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. “Grassroots political action is still effective in certain ways.”

Democrats in the House and Senate had sent letters to the secretaries of Energy and the Interior asserting that the mall was the proper place to hold the event. Among other things, they contended that President Obama’s actions, including the prominence he gave to clean and solar energy during the State of the Union address and the SolarShot initiative, showed how important the event was to the county.

The new location pleased contestants.

“I think we’re overjoyed that its staying on the mall; it’s important to the prestige of the contest,” Andrews said. “The FDR monument area is lovely. In terms of the physical surroundings, it’s a very nice place.”

The Southern California Institute of Architecture and the California Institute of Technology team had a similar reaction.

“We feel that of all the options that have come out the discussion this is the best one,” said Elisabeth Neigert with that team. “I think keeping it on the National Mall demonstrates that it is a priority and that our innovations and research and two years are respected, and I think that should continue to happen in the future.”

The mall gives the contest the best visibility, Neigert said.

“We want to be where people can reach us. We want to be near our political representatives because they’re the people who influence policy, and we can give them tours and make it a vibrant part of D.C.,” she said.

Image courtesy of the DOE's Solar Decathlon site. The Washington Monument should still be visible from the new site.