The Solar Decathlon is an International competition (university level) hosted by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). In this competition, university students compete to design, build, and operate a stand-alone 800 sq. ft. energy-efficient solar powered house. Florida International University had the privilege to compete in the 2005 competition that takes places on the International Mall in Washington DC.

The purpose of this competition is to challenge students to think more about renewable energy and how it can impact society. This also leads to more research and development of renewable energies and self-awareness to the public as to how to make our lives more efficient (the houses are displayed on the Mall during competition and are open to the public).

Out of 50 entries, 18 schools made it to the actual competition. Each school had 2 years to design and build the house. Then, they were loaded on trucks or boats (depending on where the school was coming from) and taken to the International Mall in Washington D.C. forming the “solar village”. The design of the house had to be modular so that it could be taken apart, loaded on trucks (in our case) and taken to DC. The competition then was 7 days long where each house was analyzed extensively.

The competition is called Solar “Decathlon” because it consists of ten competitions that decided which is the most efficient house:

• Architecture: In this competition, the houses compete on the aesthetics of the house, as well as how well the students incorporate new technologies and ideas to the design.
  
  
• Dwelling: This competition is based basically on what makes the house a comfortable place to be in (it’s “homeliness”). Teams are awarded points based on the livability and buldability of the house.
  
  
• Documentation: In order to design a house, tons of paperwork need to be done, especially drawings of the design. These drawings not only have to be drawn precisely and very detailed, but they have to be sealed by licensed engineers and architects who approve that it is a safe structure to build. This includes all energy and structural calculations that need to be done in order to prove that it will be a safe structure. Each stage of design and build of the house need to be documented and presented.
  
  
• Comfort Zone: This is all about the HVAC of the house (heating, ventilation, and air cooling). The HVAC system, when designed properly, allows for a house to be a comfortable environment to be in. Not too hot, not to cold, not to humid, and so one. In order to control this in all the houses, temperature and humidity meters were installed in each house and measurements were taken every 15 minutes
  
  
• Appliances: The judges also “graded” each team on the appliances that were chosen for the house. Are they energy star? How much electricity do they need? Each team had to do laundry, power a home office, cook dinner, wash the dishes, and leave the TV running for 6 hours a day.
  
  
• Hot Water: The houses needed to provide enough hot water to simulate an average length shower twice a day, supply hot water to run the dishwasher and the clothes washer in order to compete in the appliances competition.
  
  
• Lighting: What good is a house with no lighting? In a solar house, acceptable interior lighting needs to be supplied using the least amount of energy. This is done by using more energy efficient light bulbs (such as fluorescent) and using the sun to your own advantage. FIU’s design included louvers covering the upper windows to block direct sunlight (so the house doesn’t heat up as much) but allow plenty of indirect sunlight to the point that no interior lights are needed during the day. Light meters were installed in each house to collect light readings in a similar way as the temperature readings.
  
  
• Energy Balance: This is the core of the Solar Decathlon. These houses have to produce enough energy to run the whole house and store enough energy in the battery bank for night operations and in case of bad weather. The teams earn full points in this competition if the battery bank of the house had as the same or more stored energy in them when the competition ended as they did when it started. FIU won first place in this one!
  
  
• Getting Around: Each team was supplied with a street legal, commercially available electric car. With the extra energy produced by the house, each team could power their car. Mileage for each car was recorded, and each team earned points based on the mileage from their cars.

For more information on this competition or on FIU’s Solar House, please visit

http://www.solardecathlon.org/highlights_2005.html

or

http://htd.fiu.edu/fiusolar/index.htm