Solar Decathlon 2011 Adjusts Focus Toward Affordability

The rain that many visitors to the 2009 Solar Decathlon squelched through last October doesn’t seem to have squelched the Department of Energy’s enthusiasm for this biennial event - for which we can be thankful, since it routinely showcases some of the most innovative active solar, passive solar, and ‘net-zero energy’ designs you’ll ever see.

Drying out, Solar Decathlon 2009

The Department has just announced the list of 20 university teams that will compete in the 2011 Solar Decathlon by designing, building and operating solar-powered, energy-efficient houses.  The houses will generate energy with PV systems, and in many cases with solar thermal and even geothermal systems.  One emphasis for this event will be on dwellings that are affordable, attractive, effective, and energy-efficient;  another will be the use of renewable energy systems that are commercially available today.

The teams include colleges and universities from 14 U.S. states, including California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. Four international teams are also participating, including a team from Canada and teams from three countries that are new to the competition: Belgium, China, and New Zealand.

The Contests

The teams will compete in ten contests designed to measure the buildings’ ability to maintain a certain internal temperature range, provide lighting, run appliances, and more.  The individual contests, each worth 100 points, will focus on affordability, appliances, architecture, comfort zone, communications, energy balance, engineering, home entertainment, hot water production, and market appeal.

One element of last year’s event that will be de-emphasized next year will be the ‘energy balance’ or ‘net metering’ contest.  In 2009 this contest - a measure of the total kilowatts produced by the buildings’ PV systems - was allocated twice as many points as the other contests, which may have led some entrants to design for power production rather than affordability.  Apparently the Spanish house and the victor ludorum German house generated much more electricity than they could practically use, but at a generally prohibitive building cost.  In 2011, ‘energy balance’ will be scored in line with all the other categories, including the new ‘affordability’ contest.

Even at this early stage, there’s a lot of information on next year’s event on the Department of Energy’s dedicated Solar Decathlon web site.

Details of the teams and schools competing in Solar Decathlon 2011 can be found here.