Construction began on Friday of a 99-square-meter single solar house with two bedrooms and one bathroom near the east gate of Peking University.

The house, named Etho, was jointly designed by around 160 students from Peking University and the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

"Our dream of building a cutting-edge, net zero solar home will come true after one month of construction," said Peng Xuesong, 21, a journalism student at Peking University, who is involved in the building project.

Besides using renewable energy sources, Etho features a home automation system that allows occupants to control a number of features through a tablet, phone or computer.

The system can also change lighting levels and allows for the monitoring of appliances and outlets.

He said that students majoring in architectural design, engineering, electronics, journalism and law are taking part in the project.

The two universities have been working on the design of the house for the past year.

Besides design, around 20 students of architecture from Peking University will work together with a professional construction team to make the solar home a reality, he said.

The current construction site is only temporary. The house, which will be divided into four modules, which will be transported to Datong in Shanxi province in July when it is completed, where it will be exhibited during the Solar Decathlon China 2013.

The contest is jointly organized by the National Energy Administration, the US Department of Energy and Peking University.