Solar Decathlon Results
The Solar Decathlon competitiors have come through once again. 18 liveable solar power homes have been created demonstrating the advantages of solar energy in powering home systems.
The University of Colorado claimed the prize in the 2005 Solar Decathlon.
This house is a power dynamo silently providing all of the homes energy needs with strictly solar power and that's not all, it powers an electric car with any extra energy produced!
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18 teams from USA, Canada, Spain and Puerto Rico rise to the challenge in 2005. Building a liveable home powered completely by solar energy.
Each team is awarded $100,000. to design and build their project with an eye toward the 10 criteria on which their house will be judged.
The 10 categories are
- Architecture - 200 points ~ A worthy panel of architects evaluate the homes for soundness, livability and creativity.
- Engineering - 150 points ~ A team of experts appraise the systems
- Market Viability - 150 points ~ This contest assessed the marketability of each project.
- Communications - 100 points ~ An evaluation of how well the information about the house and it's systems is communicated to the public.
- Comfort Zone - 100 points ~ . An assessment of each house's livability. This contest is about maintaining stable temperature and humidity levels within comfortable limits
- Appliances - 100 points ~ Useability is what is looked at here. Maintaining functional temperatures in cooling appliances and using major appliances and electronics.
- Hot Water - 100 points ~ A home must have hot water. Can a solar house keep up?
- Lighting - 100 points ~ Evaluates the use and effectiveness of natural and electric light.
- Energy Balance - 100 points ~ The object here is to use only solar power for the duration of the contest and have as much in the bank when you end as when you begin.
- Getting Around - 100 points ~ Any extra juice is fed to the electric car. Every mile the car travels counts in this contest.
It happened that this year the event was challenged by cloudy skies which only proved that solar systems can be a reliable source of energy even in conditions that are less than ideal.
A round of applause to the 18 teams who produced some stellar solar designs that give us all hope for the future.
The Competitors
- California Polytechnic State University
- Carnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh, and The Art Institute of Pittsburgh
- Concordia University and Université de Montréal
- Cornell University
- Crowder College
- Florida International University
- New York Institute of Technology
- Rhode Island School of Design
- Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
- Universidad de Puerto Rico
- University of Colorado, Denver and Boulder
- University of Maryland
- University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
- University of Michigan
- University of Missouri-Rolla and Rolla Technical Institute
- University of Texas at Austin
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Washington State University
Each home's appliances are carefully selected by the team to use the least amount of power while delivering the needed punch.
The houses are reassembled at Washington D.C.'s National Mall to form a solar village where the Solar Decathlon events take place.
More information on Solar Decathlon events.
This worthwhile competition is sponsored by subsidiaries of the US Department of Energy.
