The Sunny Side of Solar: The U.S. Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon

By Veronique Lee

Last Friday, the Department of Energy (DOE) launched its biennial Solar Decathlon. The program, first introduced in 2002, “challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive.” The teams earn points for task completion (such as cooking, washing dishes, and doing laundry) and monitored performance (such as maintaining a comfortable—i.e. 71° to 76°F—indoor temperature range) in the following contests:

• Comfort
• Hot Water
• Appliances
• Home Entertainment
• Energy Balance

Jurors who are field experts award points for aesthetic and design-related elements of the home. They evaluate:

• ­Architecture
• Market Appeal
• Engineering
• Affordability
• Communications Strategy

This year’s teams focused largely on incorporating various forms of new solar technology into their designs. From photovoltaics (PV), to solar thermal power, all 19 teams came up with creative solutions that simultaneously work to maximize energy production and conservation.

Some highlights from the Decathlon:

• A handful of the homes, like Team Maryland’s WaterShed and Team New Jersey’s Enjoy, included water-conserving and recycling elements. Team Maryland, a favorite in the competition, considered four types of water in their WaterShed design: potable water, rainwater, grey water and black water. In WaterShed, wastewater that does not come from the toilet or kitchen sink is captured and filtered in subsurface greywater-treatment wetlands, which break down nutrients and remove pathogens.

• A team of students from the Victoria University of Wellington used a renewable resource abundant in their native New Zealand to insulate the First Light house: sheep’s wool. The entire house is insulated by about 10 inches of recycled sheep’s wool, giving the First Light house a thermal resistance value (R-value) almost three times greater than typical homes.

• Purdue’s entry features a biowall, which is a home air filtration system that utilizes plants placed in a vertical wall. Requiring very little maintenance, the biowall improves air quality in the home all while saving energy.

• Team Tidewater and Team New York gave visitors a look at green solutions for urban architecture. Tidewater’s Unit 6 model home is scaled appropriately to fit on narrow urban streets and proposes shared infrastructure costs.

I was impressed with the turnout at this year’s Decathlon. In spite of the fickle forecast, the exhibit at West Potomac Park drew quite a large crowd, which included a number of local school groups. While it was clear that some visitors were already well versed in solar technology, judging by the technical nature of their queries, the eagerness with which they asked their questions was an indelible indication of their curiosity and their desire to see solar as a new standard in architecture.

Programs like the DOE’s Solar Decathlon encourage and incentivize innovation. It’s important that we continue to fund alternative energy R&D, by investing in new technology, rather than resorting to government mandates or a carbon price to spur and sustain innovation. Given the talent I saw at this year’s Decathlon, it’s evident that there is no shortage of creative and innovative minds in the U.S. What seems to be lacking is a true sense of urgency for new energy standards. Energy security and climate change are some of the most pressing issues of our era. I think it’s time we move on from the shades of solar companies past and give solar a place in the sun.

Middlebury College's Self-Reliance marries modern solar power technology with rustic New England design. (Photo courtesy of Middlebury College, Vermont: http://solardecathlon.middlebury.edu/images/graphics_archive/photos/midd_sd_p25.jpg)

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