Solar Decathlon Blog
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Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009
After two years of planning, designing, engineering, and building, our SCU+CCA Team California is ready to welcome the world through the doors of Refract House on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.! Student Project Manager Allison Kopf (SCU ’11) has the honor of joining Energy Secretary Steven Chu to address the crowd at the Opening Ceremonies. And, as if that were not enough, SCU and CCA students were thrilled to learn that CBS will be interviewing Secretary Chu for its news program 60 Minutes (which boasts more than 9 million viewers!) in OUR SOLAR HOUSE this morning! We will post the air date and more information soon. Our student team is making us proud—working around the clock on getting the house ready for competition and visitors, talking with media, and preparing for the blitz that is the Solar Decathlon. Watch Allison's speech on YouTube.
Sure to be a topic of buzz on the National Mall, one of the innovations being introduced in our 2009 entry is a carbon meter. Thanks to a grant from the California Energy Commission, Santa Clara University has been working with SolarTech (a PV industry consortium) to develop this concept. Over the past year, it has been developed and tested on SCU's campus on our 2007 Solar Decathlon entry, Ripple House. With great results being achieved, students were excited to install the meter on Refract House to measure carbon offsets at real-time rates. In the future, it is expected this type of monitoring will allow homeowners to be compensated for saving energy while contributing to the health of the planet, enabling a potential economy of carbon cap and trade.
Watch this fun video from The Washington Post showing our SCU and California flags waving, and our student, Preet Anand (SCU ’10) getting the last word! More on our team in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. A great photo of our team with Secretary Chu here: cnet news and an interview with NPR.
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Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Refract House is up and running on the grid! The PV panels are generating power, the controls and monitoring interface is up (read about this in Kadee's blog entry), landscaping is taking shape, and with all the big jobs done, the students are working excitedly to finish up the final touches to be ready for the public tomorrow. In addition to working against the clock to finish work on the house, team members are also responding to a constant flow of requests for interviews with the media--just an average day for a Solar Decathlete! Support and good wishes are rolling in as well from Santa Clara City Hall, the California Hydrogen Business Council, and Team California's many wonderful sponsors. We are pumped and ready to go! Read Richard King's Daily Journal.
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Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Refract House made history yesterday as it was "the first Solar Decathlon house ever to be connected with a microgrid." Richard King, Solar Decathlon Director, writes all about it in his daily journal on the official Website for the Solar Decathlon. He also notes, "Inspection Officer Tom Meyers believes the work being done by the student teams is about 10 years ahead of what is used by today's architects, engineers, and contractors," and lists as an example SCU's own bamboo structural rafters and I-joists that feature an open-web design to ease construction. Similar to the bamboo I-beams developed for SCU's 2007 entry, these trestle-shaped beams have been altered to allow ducting, electrical wiring, and plumbing to run through while maintaining structural support for the roof. Read more.
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Friday, Oct. 2, 2009
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Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009
Reassembly began at 12:01 a.m. today. Students have been working non-stop, and all three modules of the house are on the mall and together. So far, things are going well! Read the DOE account of move-in.
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Wednesday, Sep. 30, 2009
SCU Solar Decathlete Preet Anand (BS '10) is interviewed for Engineering TV.
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Wednesday, Sep. 30, 2009
All five trucks (three with the house modules and two with tools, household goods, and a couple of bikes for getting around) arrived safely in D.C. The team heaved a huge sigh of relief when the doors were opened and the glass walls were found to be intact!! Students are working hard cleaning the modules, taking numerous trips to Home Depot, repairing a segment of the roof that was damaged in transit, reinstalling the racking system for the PV panels, and completing or improving areas that were not quite right, so overall the house is getting better. They are working late, getting rained on, working well together, and having a blast! Visit the student blog.
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Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2009
Santa Clara University students are featured in an article about the Solar Decathlon in October's Popular Mechanics.
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Wednesday, Sep. 23, 2009
Student project manager Allison Kopf '11 has been selected to help kick-off the U.S. Department of Energy's 2009 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C., on October 8.
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Friday, Sep. 18, 2009
SCU students and their solar house are heading to Washington, D.C. for the Solar Decathlon.
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