SunPower at Solar Decathlon 2011: Meet Team Purdue

by McKenna J. Regan, September 29, 2011 | Email this

We are Boilermakers. Boilermaker heritage goes far beyond athletics. It defines our community through spirit, determination, and work ethic. Back in the late 1800’s, the Purdue football team was known for their knowledge and hard work in the classroom and industrial fields. Covered in dirt and smog every day from working in boiler rooms, the football team soon gained the unpleasant nickname “Boilermakers.” Since then, Purdue University has adopted the name in remembrance of our university’s humble beginnings.

Today, with the INhomes team’s hands-on-approach, we truly represent the essence of a Boilermaker. We are proud of the hard work, determination and skills that have made this dream become a reality. Kevin R. is the team’s project manager and designer of the unique Biowall feature. Jordan W. is our engineering manager, who has integrated multiple technical features into our home along with the PV system itself. Jordan has a team of talented engineers that have built and designed the INhome to perform very well. Mallory S. is our HVAC system engineer and Lee C. is the controls engineer of the home. Sarah M. is our team’s design and architecture manager. Communications includes those in management, hotel tourism management and liberal arts. McKenna R., Devynn L. and Kristyn Z. are a few of the students involved in communications and education for the INhome. Eric H. leads the construction team as the team’s construction manager. Those who assist Eric H. in the home’s design and build are; Derek K., Jeffery D., Matt H., Spencer D., Steven J., Kaitlyn T., Brendan M., Andy G. , Caitlin M. and more.

The INhome is powered by a 8.64 kW SunPower solar photovoltaic system that annually produces as much electricity as the INhome consumes, allowing the INhome to become net-zero. The photovoltaic system is driven by 36, SunPower^® E19 / 238 Solar Panels. Excess electricity is sold back to the power utility company during times of high production. Our team chose to use SunPower solar panels because the company is a leader in the solar industry and offered our team a cost effective, high quality and reliable product, as well as a supportive industry partnership. All in all, allowing us to succeed in the competition.

The philosophy behind the INhome is making the concept of solar powered residences a reality in the near future for residential consumers. This Midwestern inspired home shows consumers they can be sustainable without sacrificing quality or comfort. The INhome blends technological innovations with functional and appealing aesthetics to create a living space that appeals to the majority of homeowners.

The most unique feature of the INhome is the Biowall. The Biowall is a home air filtration system that utilizes plants placed in a vertical wall, which remove harmful chemicals that can accumulate in homes that are tightly sealed like the INhome. Air from the home is drawn through the plant wall where the chemicals are removed by the plants and used as a food source. The wall requires very little maintenance and is even designed to water itself. The Biowall improves the air quality in the home, saves energy, and provides a calming ambiance by bringing nature inside the home.

We will not only be a top player in this competition, but also be recognized as future leaders in innovation. Team Purdue is competing in the Solar Decathlon knowing that no matter the challenge, we Boilermakers have the drive and skills necessary to surpass our goals.

For more information on Team Purdue, please visit our website.

McKenna J. Regan
Communications and Marketing Manager, Purdue INhome
West Lafayette, IN, United States

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SunPower Partnering with Six Teams at the 2011 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon

September 29, 2011 | Email this

In mid-September, 19 teams of talented university students traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the fifth U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon at the National Mall's West Potomac Park. The teams represent 13 U.S. states, five countries and four continents. Competing in 10 categories over nine days, the Solar Decathlon challenges each team to design, build and operate the most attractive, functional and energy-efficient solar-powered home. Teams accrue points based on how well their houses perform in the 10 categories, each worth 100 points. Once teams are scored in all ten categories, the team with the highest total number of points is declared the winner of the Solar Decathlon and receives the championship trophy.

Competition categories:
1.   Architecture
2.   Market Appeal
3.   Engineering
4.   Communications
5.   Affordability
6.   Comfort Zone
7.   Hot Water
8.   Appliances
9.   Home Entertainment
10. Energy Balance

The final results for Architecture and Affordability were announced this week. Congratulations to two of the teams using SunPower panels - Middlebury College for placing 4^th in Architecture and Purdue University for tying for 1^st place in Affordability!

Long-term planning and determination is key to participating in the competition. Teams started preparing more than two years in advance. Check it out - their work is impressive and inspiring.

With homes designed for the energy needs of the average household, the Solar Decathlon aims to help visitors learn about the benefits of applying sustainable, energy efficient and cost-saving features to their own homes.

The public is invited to tour the houses for free through Oct. 2. If you haven’t had a chance to tour the 2011 Solar Decathlon homes at West Potomac Park, make time for it this week or over the weekend.

For those of you who live too far away to go in person, we are happy to bring the Solar Decathlon to you. Take a look at our Solar Decathlon 2011 Facebook album to see photos of this year’s innovative and sustainable homes and follow us on Twitter for updates.

Six Solar Decathlon 2011 teams selected our high efficiency, high reliability SunPower solar systems for their homes:

Team Florida International University (Florida International University) with perFORM[D]ance House, selected the SunPower^® E19 / 320 Solar Panels
Team Illinois (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) with Re_home, chose the SunPower^®E18 / 230 Solar Panels
Team Massachusetts (University of Massachusetts at Lowell and Massachusetts College of Art and Design) with 4D Home, featuring the SunPower^® E19 / 240 Solar Panels
Team Middlebury College (Middlebury College) with Self-Reliance, using the SunPower^® E18 / 225 Solar Panels
Team New York (City College of New York) with Solar RoofPod, selected the SunPower^® E19 / 240 Solar Panels
Team Purdue (Purdue University) with INhome, will install the SunPower^® E19 / 238 Solar Panels

Did you know?
The winners of the 2005, 2007 and 2009 Solar Decathlon competitions used SunPower solar panels. SunPower panels offer the maximum power from a limited roof space, a key design requirement for the decathletes, as well as residences and businesses everywhere.

Interested in learning more about the SunPower teams at the 2011 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon? We are excited to host a series of guest blog posts about the six Solar Decathlon homes powered by SunPower at this year's competition.

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Solar Decathlon 2011: Designing a Solar House By Team Middlebury

by Katie Romanov, October 04, 2011 | Email this

This past Saturday, after a week and a half of operating our home, Self-Reliance, and being evaluated in the 10 decathlon contests, Team Middlebury College was awarded fourth place in the Solar Decathlon competition. In addition to winning fourth place overall, our student-led team took first place in three of the 10 decathlon contests: Communications, Home Entertainment and Market Appeal. Team Middlebury College also placed fourth in the Architecture contest and five in Affordability, gaining the most juried contest points of any team.

Team Middlebury College was the first undergraduate liberal arts team to be accepted as a finalist into the Solar Decathlon competition without partnering with another institution. We are extremely proud that we performed as a top contender amongst teams from technical architecture and engineering institutions. We dreamed of finishing in the top five overall and being the little engine that could. We did it!

In our original schematic design proposal, we described our vision of reinventing the New England farmhouse, a long-standing American symbol of home. With no idea of how we'd fare against other submissions, and an added application phase due to a surplus of proposals, we eagerly awaited a response from the DOE. On April 6, 2010, the announcement came. We were in! Enthusiastic screaming ensued… until a student stood up and said "Let's get to work!"

Over the past year and half leading up to this year’s Solar Decathlon, we put ourselves to work. Long hours and hard decisions became even more tedious as our team continued to grow. Over 85 students from more than 25 different majors played an active role in the project. We drew on chemistry majors to do our materials research and English majors to write our fundraising materials, turning our perceived limitation as a liberal arts school into our greatest strength. Our interdisciplinary background encouraged us to take a unique approach towards the engineering challenge of creating a 100% net-zero energy home by incorporating our appreciation for the humanities into an integrated design process.

We crafted our design around our target client: a young New England family of four. With a maximum of 1,000 square feet of finished floor space to work with, and the goal of having a separate children's bedroom, we allocated space efficiently. We maximized space with our southern-facing gable roof and added a loft as a storage and multipurpose area. We integrated a greenhouse-wall into the kitchen, allowing family members to grow their own produce from seed to plate. To reduce embodied energy, we incorporated local natural materials that are healthy for both the inhabitants and the surrounding environment. We employed passive techniques and simple active systems, with a user-friendly interface for parents and kids to observe their energy usage. Demonstrating that solar-powered homes can be comfortable and appealing for families was one of our team's top priorities at the 2011 Solar Decathlon.

Selecting our solar panels was a big decision. We chose to partner with SunPower, an company that shares our commitment to renewable energy and environmental stewardship. SunPower was able to provide the highest solar panel efficiency for our project, generating more than 6.75 kW on a sunny day. Instead of consuming electricity generated from coal, natural gas, nuclear material or other non-renewable sources, Self-Reliance meets its energy needs with solar power – a clean, green technology that is available to home and business owners across the world.

Team members installed our all black SunPower E18/225 solar panels during the construction of Self-Reliance this past summer in Middlebury, Vermont, then disassembled and reassembled the system for the competition in West Potomac Park on the National Mall and are currently disassembling the solar array for shipment back to Vermont.

This coming weekend, after the six-day disassembly process is complete, we will truck the eight modules of Self-Reliance back to the Middlebury College campus for final siting. Boreholes have already been drilled for a geothermal system and the permanent foundation is currently under construction.

Middlebury College will use the house for special interest housing, where students will apply to live on a per semester basis. Our home will serve as an environmental outreach center for dinners, speakers and educational events open to both the campus and the local community. It was incredible sharing our home with over 15,000 visitors on the National Mall. Now it's time to bring the house home, where it will continue to be an educational tool that demonstrates the livability and affordability of solar-powered homes.

Team Middlebury College accepting their award for Communication

You can learn more about our team and Self-Reliance on our blog.

Katie Romanov
Communications Coordinator, Team Middlebury College Self-RELIANCE
Middlebury, VT, United States

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Solar Decathlon 2011: Meet Team Illinois, Creators of Energy Efficient Housing Solution for Disaster Relief

by Carolyn Mesha, October 06, 2011 | Email this

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign team is comprised of students from a variety of fields. While the team is mostly architecture and engineering students, we also have landscape architects, business, and media students. The University of Illinois competed in the 2009 Solar Decathlon, where we received second place. The team’s success in 2009 sparked interest within the university to compete again in 2011. To see a list of team members and current construction pictures, visit Team Illinois’ website.

Team Illinois’ entry, Re_home, offered a new solution for disaster relief housing. Our model home’s design mixes efficient engineering, smart controls systems, and thoughtful architecture to serve the community and families in need after natural disasters. The two-module home was designed to be quickly transported and easily assembled in the event of natural disasters, such as tornadoes, common in our region of the U.S. Re_home serves as more than a shelter; it enables individual and community recovery through a socially- and environmentally-aware response.

Our home’s 7.2 kW solar array includes integrated photovoltaic, bi-facial shading panels along the front façade and 24 adjustable SunPower® E18 / 230 solar panels on the roof. The panels were shipped flat on the roof and were then adjusted to the correct angle on site. Team Illinois chose SunPower for the company’s highly efficient solar panels, which provide maximum energy output in a limited amount of roof space, while keeping the upfront cost of the home affordable.

Prior to the competition in Washington, D.C, Team Illinois provided tours to those interested in the home within the university and in the larger community. Re_home was a stop for many summer camps, enabling young people to learn about solar panels and sustainable design.

Re_home is innovative in its use of indoor and outdoor space. The home connects exterior deck areas to the main living areas of the home in order to provide more community gathering space and to extend the livable footprint of the home. To provide additional energy and to shade the main entrance and deck space, Re_home features solar panels along the south facade of the building.

Our model home placed 7th overall in the competition, and we received first place in the Appliances and Energy Balance categories. The students on Team Illinois had a great experience in Washington D.C. We were very impressed with all 19 homes at this year’s competition.

An energy-efficient housing solution for natural disasters

A close-up of Re_home’s SunPower solar system

Team Illinois ’11 - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Carolyn Mesha
Project Manager for Team Illinois '11
Champaign, IL, United States

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Solar Decathlon 2011: 4D Home, Team Massachusetts’ Approach to Viable Compact Living in New England

by Julianne Rhodes, October 07, 2011 | Email this

The Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) and the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMASS Lowell) partnered for Solar Decathlon 2011. MassArt remains the nation’s only public college of art and design. UMass Lowell offers the only solar energy engineering program in the northeast region of the United States. Students from MassArt and UMASS Lowell worked on the team’s Solar Decathlon entry, 4D Home, for over two years.

Concerned about the negative consequences of non-renewable energy sources for the built environment, our team approached this issue holistically when designing 4D Home. As demonstrated in our home, successful, affordable strategies for sourcing renewable energy for buildings can be achieved when the baseline energy consumption is minimized with passive design.

Our team values:

Innovation through simplicity rather than complexity
Longevity of materials and systems
Working in an integrated collaborative design process
Using singular technologies for multiple functions
Generating context driven design solutions

About 4D Home:

4D Home is a prototype for an affordable net zero home that adapts to a family’s changing needs over time and that focuses on the efficiency of the envelope. Our model home is 945 square feet and designed for a family of three. The simple gable form is inspired by New England architecture. Designed to Passive House standards, the super insulated envelope and passive solar heat gain keep it comfortable throughout the yeat. Take a virtual tour of the home.

The design of Team Massachusetts’ 4D Home shows how dynamic interior spaces can make compact living viable for a small family. Since the temporary and long term spatial needs of a family change over time, the home’s two-bedroom layout can be easily reconfigured by sliding two central partition walls (with internal storage), expanding the living and dining rooms and allowing the home to accommodate large gatherings for special events or convert to a one-bedroom with a home office.

The 6.7 kW SunPower solar array is offset from the roof on a trellis, forming a covered entry way and providing seasonal shading. This configuration helps to cool the panels through an increased airflow beneath the array, increasing the panels’ operating efficiency. SunPower’s highly efficient mono-crystalline silicon cells allow the 4D Home to attain net zero with a gable roof. While gable roofs are more suited for the heavy snows of New England, one of the roof slopes is oriented towards the north, leaving only the south-facing side of the roof viable for a solar array. With 28 SunPower E19/240 solar panels, we were able to maximize our energy output, despite our house's limited roof area.

Recognized with 9th place (out of 19) in the overall competition, we are proud to have earned fourth place in the Affordability and Market Appeal categories and second place in Energy Balance.

4D Home was recently sold to a family in Maine. We are thrilled that the house will be used as it was originally intended, as a home for a real New England family.

Check It Out:

Team members Spencer Culhane and Julianne Rhoads gave an inspiring presentation about the project at this year’s TEDxBoston event. Hear from the students live at TEDxBoston.