German Team Wins First Prize At The Solar Decathlon
17 October 2009 | Solar Power | No Comments
Hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Solar Decathlon is a competition held for three weeks in October, where 20 teams of college and university students from Canada, U.S.A. and Europe, compete to design and build the most energy efficient and effective house, using solar technology. The event is also intended to be open for the public, so they can observe the latest solar equipments and technology used to create one of the most efficient houses in the world.
The contestants were supposed to design a house that is self-sustaining, meaning it should produce as much energy as it consumed and at the same time provide a pleasant look. Other areas of judgment were architecture, viability, engineering, lighting design, communication, hot water systems, temperature, appliances, home entertainment and total energy production. This year’s winners of Solar Decathlon, which was held at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. where firstly, the German team with a score of score 908.29 out of maximum 1,000 points. Second place went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign which scored 897.30 points and finally Team California took the third place, amounting to 863.08 points.
The German team from Technische Universität Darmstadt, designed a two-story house in the shape of a cube, all covered with solar panels. They where the only team to win all the 150 points given in the “net metering” (the total energy production) category, being able to build a house that produced more energy than it consumed,even though it rained on 3 days. The energy surplus they managed to deliver was pumped to the electric company from the Washington area. The points they earned would later than prove to be decisive in winning the competition.
Tags: energy, energy efficient, german team, house, self-sustaining, solar decathlon, solar equipment. solar technology, solar panels, Technische Universität Darmstadt