Our history begins in 2007, when we first took part in the Solar Decathlon Build competition, a challenge open to teams from universities from around the world where students design and build full size solar powered homes with support from professional sponsors. Since our impetus, we have built a total of five homes, one of which achieved second place, and competed in several U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Design Challenges (formerly known as Race-to-Zero). We are currently in the second and final year of the 2020 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Build Challenge.

The houses built by the UIUC teams in the past were featured at the Center for Green Technology in Chicago, on the Weather Channel, at the GreenBuild Expo in Chicago, and on various news outlets. The University team has shown a commitment to education of the public about how solar power and sustainable design are feasible and attractive options.

The Student Sustainability Committee funded the project in 2007 and 2009. The 2009 house won second place overall, but both houses earned top honors for specific categories. The University of Illinois is the only school to be invited to each of the past three Solar Decathlon international events hosted in the United States, taking home 2nd (2009), 7th (2011) and 9th (2007) place, in those biennial competitions, respectively.

The University of Illinois teams have been finalists each year in the annually held Design Challenge (formerly known as Race-to-Zero). Team LINKoln won 2nd place in the Small Multifamily Housing category at the Race-to-Zero 2016 competetion.