The 2009 Solar Decathlon

Considering how hot it is outside, we thought it fitting to mention that we just got linked to the 2009 Solar Decathlon, hosted by the US Dept. of Energy, in which 20 teams of students compete to “design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house.”
Each team puts a crew together, raises funds, and works with contractors to build their solar-powered house, then they move them to the National Mall in DC and rebuild them there. When that’s done, the houses are opened up to the public and judged in 10 contests to determine an overall winner. Aside from the obvious educational factor at work here, the idea behind this event is to educate the public about conservation and solar energy use, and demonstrate that “Zero Energy Homes” are both possible and comfortable. The dates for each stage are listed below:

• Oct. 8-16—Teams compete in 10 contests
• Oct. 9-13—Houses are open to the public
• Oct. 15-18—Houses are open to the public
• Oct. 19-21—Teams disassemble their houses

As for the Decathletes themselves, they come from all over; teams have been put together at Cornell, Penn State, Virginia Tech, and Universidad de Puerto Rico, and that’s just a handful of the participants. The full list of teams is here.

There are also opportunities for private entities to sponsor the event, or individual teams - in our next post, we’ll list some companies who should sling a little money at this project.