College teams compete for eco-dominance in the Solar Decathlon

This summer, teams of college students have amassed on their school campuses to create solar-only, off-the-grid, self-powered homes, which will eventually compete in Washington D.C. for the Department of Energy's 2007 Solar Decathlon. To build the houses, students are limited to currently available, off-the-shelf technologies, and must also focus on design, comfort, and market viability. The groups will move their eco-friendly homes to the National Mall in D.C., where the "solar village" of houses will be open for touring by the general public, and will be scored by judges for architecture, engineering, and energy balance, amongst others. The whole shebang is sponsored by heavy-hitters like Sprint and BP, but it's unclear whether the winning team receives prizes beyond the knowledge that their solar home crushed the others in head-to-head combat.

[Via CNET]

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 10th 2007 1:42PM]

The University of Colorado (my school) is going to attempt to win it's third year in a row this year.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 10th 2007 6:13PM]

Use a gigantic magnifying lens to set your opponents' houses aflame. Now that's solar power!

[Gipper Posted Aug 10th 2007 1:43PM]

um, why in the hell are they limited to currently available off the shelf technologies?


Doesn't it seem like the point of this thing is to advance design ideas in solar powered homes? Let them invent whatever the heck they want for the betterment of man kind.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 10th 2007 2:18PM]

Nope. The idea is to come up with cheap methods which will not require significant changes in infrastructure. Also, if all of the stuff is off the shelf, once they release the instructions, anyone could build one of these houses.

Of course, of the shelf components only means that individual parts must be off the shelf; the way they are configured and put together does not have to be, and should not be.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 10th 2007 8:14PM]

If someone can build a decent solar home from off-the-shelf technology, then so can I. And so can everyone else. I'm pretty sure thats the beauty of it.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 10th 2007 1:49PM]

uh, solar power huh? so why are they using gas powered generators for site lighting? shouldn't they be using those shake a flash lights from the dollar store or something.

[Mile Posted Aug 10th 2007 2:10PM]

Unfortantly for me, my lightening bug farm didn't do well this year. Oh well, there's always next year I suppose.

[ekenyon Posted Aug 10th 2007 3:25PM]

My school (University of Maryland) is participating for its third year, and hopefully we'll finally do well this year.

I'm glad that they have to use off the shelf technologies. This isn't a research competition, it is a way to show that people can live on ecologically friendly technology. I went to the first one, and am planning on going this year. Pretty cool stuff.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 10th 2007 2:52PM]

Hey, students aren't just building sustainable homes, they are building sustainable campuses. The Campus Climate Challenge, http://www.climatechallenge.org, got over 300 college and university presidents across the country to agree to go carbon neutral. We have hundreds of student chapters building green, putting up solar panels, erecting wind turbines, and designing the future today! Check out our projects at http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/.

Students are winning at sustainability...when are the older folks gonna step up?

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 10th 2007 2:52PM]

Go CU!!!

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 10th 2007 8:05PM]

If someone can build a decent solar home from off-the-shelf technology, then so can I. And so can everyone else. I'm pretty sure thats the beauty of it.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 10th 2007 8:08PM]

If someone can build a decent solar home from off-the-shelf technology, then so can I. And so can everyone else. I'm pretty sure thats the beauty of it.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 10th 2007 8:22PM]

Hey Everybody!!

The Solar Decathlon now has a Myspace page, where you can find lots of info about the event, download some cool desktops, and find links to all of the teams' websites. Lots of cool stuff to see! Check it out at:

http://www.myspace.com/solardecathlon07

See you at the competition!