St. Louis-based Microgrid Solar is proud to be the engineer-of-record and installer of the first microgrid in the U.S. to be centered around a “Solar Village”. Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) created the Solar Village, which consists of multiple houses built by the university’s students, from 2002 to 2009, for competition in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. This competition challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. Missouri S&T students, faculty and staff, along with members of the university’s microgrid advisory board (Ameren, City Utilities of Springfield, Rolla Municipal Utilities and Electric Power Research Institute), several Missouri manufacturers (Milbank, EPRI, and Ford) and the Army Corps of Engineers, have worked together for two years to design and implement the advanced microgrid testing facility at the Rolla, Mo., campus.