Visions for a solar future are taking over Washington, DC. Well, for a nine-day period at least. The semi-annual Solar Decathlon has taken over the Mall. This time around, 20 college and university teams are pitted in a competition for designing, building, and operating the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house (the contest is international, three of the 20 teams are non-US - Canada; Spain; Germany). Every two years, the US Department of Energy sponsors this competition, which helps to bring light to the potential of a more energy efficient, solar-powered future. This year has a clear focus, one that is impressive to consider:
The development and demonstration of solar-powered homes in which, by the year 2015, the whole-house, levelized energy cost has been reduced to $0.10/kWh.
As for $0.10/kWh, that is roughly the cost of delivered residential electricity across the country. Thus, the challenge, run the homes solely off solar at a cost basis (if this were a mass produced home) the same as today's electrical costs. Note the "levelized". The competition is not about the "electricity" but about the whole house. As per the entire contest, this is a holistic understanding of energy:
- What is the power source? Here, solar.
- How efficiently is the power source used? and,
- What do you want to use if for (usage patterns).
As for the last, this is an equalized situation: the competition has defined requirements for power usage (heating, driving, lighting levels) which are judged; the teams have all the same weather (including amount of sunlight); so the question is the balancing of energy efficiency to appropriately use that solar power. And, well, many people focus their eyes on the solar panels when it is the energy efficiency choices that are often the most interesting element of the homes (Green roofs? Living walls? LED / OLED lighting? Radiant heating? Insulation levels?). From 12-20 October, these 20 homes will be open to the public in what must be considered a 'must-see' event for anyone who can get there. And, well, there is so much to see that the DOE recommends that you plan on two days to visit (this is probably sound advice ... in four hours of visiting in 2005, I was able to visit five houses). One of the competition elements is communicating, so you will have good presentations and tours from the competitors who epitomize the type of innovation and enthusiasm that we want to see coming out of unversities to help create a better future. Now, this is quite seriously a competition. The teams need to hit their 10 cents/kwh targets "while complying with the criteria associated with the 10 contests that the competition comprises." What are the basic, core criteria?
To compete, the teams must design and build energy-efficient homes that are powered exclusively by the sun. The homes must be attractive and easy to live in. They must maintain a comfortable temperature, provide attractive and adequate lighting, power household appliances for cooking and cleaning, power home electronics, and provide hot water. These houses must also power an electric vehicle to meet household transportation needs. - SolarDecathlon
The homes will be judged on performance, completion of tasks, and aesthetics. It has to look good, support a family, and produce power. You should strive to make it to the Mall to see all 20 homes together, at one time, to be able to learn from each in turn. And, if you can't get to DC, some of the homes will be 'touring' post the Decathlon. The Univ of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign house, for example, will make its way to Chicago for the month of November, in the backyard of the Chicago Center for Green Technology. And, on 7 Nov, the house and the Center will be highlighted as a tour destination for attendees at Greenbuild, which is expected to draw more than 15,000 attendees. Thus, the chance to see one of these innovative (mobile) solar homes in action doesn't necessarily stop 20 October. This type of competition can often spark new ideas, innovation, iniatitives. It would be tremendous to see such competitions becoming a common site on public commons (like the Mall) across the United States and across the Globe. This might help move these innovative -- yet often quite practical -- approaches from elite competitions into the typical home at an ever faster rate. And, well, as for "Praying for more sun in DC". This is a two-edged sword, as the DC area is currently amid an increasingly serious drought, thus we should be praying for rain. But, two years ago, the Solar Decathlon seemed to have anything but sun -- it would be great to see dials spinning furiously when visiting the houses.
