Latest In Solar Powered Houses OnView

2009-11-06 08:01:50 - University teams gathered in Washington from all countries around the globe to present the latest in solar powered housing

Elected from around the world for an entry into this year’s U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon Competition, university teams are flat out constructing sustainable houses in the solar village.

Twenty teams were chosen to go to the National Mall, Washington, D.C. to compete against each other in designing, building and operating the most attractive and best solar-powered, energy-efficient house.

The houses

are judged on points ranging from architecture, lighting design to comfort zone. The people are invited to visit and see the most powerful combination of solar energy, energy efficiency and the best in home design.

The competition consists of three major phases. Designing and constructing the house, using innovative, high-tech elements in ingenious ways. The students have to increase the funds and work with the contractors. This phase is where the team is either made or broken.

In Washington the teams then move their solar homes to the National Mall and have to rebuild them on site, then the homes are then opened for public inspection.

The Solar Decathlon is considered to be a learning curve for the students in green building technologies. It also develops the public awareness of renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Through the research and development required the competition the Decathlon support energy technologies to reach the marketplace faster.

The Decathlon also forges both engineering and architecture students to form a working relationship, as they promote an integrated ‘whole building design’ to the project.

The ultimate goal is to produce a zero-energy house for the home owner. For the third time team 150 members of Cornell University is entering the competition. Their solo house is a ‘modular structure’ with three interconnecting cylindrical rooms’. With about 130 square feet of space each room measuring 16 feet in diameter.

This silo house is likely to generate more energy than it uses, or at least be a net-zero energy building. Construction costs are expected to be between $450,000 - $600,000.

In 2007 Germany took home the prize. Many from the Technische Universitat Darmstadt (architecture students) the German team is very small with only 24 members. Their two-storey cube shaped house, completely covered by solar panels, is expected to generate 200% of the energy required by the house. Construction costs around $650,000-$850,000.

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