Team California’s stylish solar home placed third out of 20 in
this year’s international solar decathlon in Washington D.C. They
lost yet again to the Germans, who really amped up the competition,
according to one local participant.
Above: A video of Team California during the competition.
Team California’s stylish solar home placed third out of 20 in this year’s international solar decathlon in Washington D.C. They lost yet again to the Germans, who really amped up the competition, according to one local participant.
So much clean energy flowed through the makeshift grid set up on the National Mall by the U.S. Department of Energy that officials had to hook up space heaters to each home to relieve overburdened wires, said Steve Ashford of Gilroy-based BNS Construction. Ashford competed with his partner Bill Cline and about 30 students and alumni of Santa Clara University and the California College of Art.
Baseline power flow for each home was 100 amps. Germany produced a whopping 240, and Team California churned out about 158 during the nine-day competition.
“We were all making too much clean energy, which got the point across to the public, but (Department of Energy) officials just weren’t ready for it,” Ashford said with a chuckle. “People said during the 2007 competition, ‘All we see are solar panels.’ So people want the power, but they just don’t want to see it, and I think Germany accomplished this” by covering the sides of its cube-shaped home with a thin layer of sun-soaking, power-generating copper material.
Despite being overshadowed by Germany – the world’s top pholtovoltaics installer – the Golden State’s commodious, crescent-shaped home aimed for aesthetics this year and prevailed. Thanks to architectural gurus brought on board from the art school, the home’s design placed first. Officials also recognized the team for its expansive deck, which Ashford and Cline built, and the quickness with which the team hooked up to the grid.
A lack of rain during the week of “California weather you wouldn’t believe” made it hard to showcase the 800-square-foot home’s aquatic conservation system, Ashford said. Aside from a motion sensor in the bathroom that alerts the hot water heater to when it is needed, the house catches run-off from the shower, sinks and dishwasher. The run-off percolates through layers of natural and synthetic materials and links up with a rain water reserve to irrigate a garden and lawn predominated by six-foot blades of California grass. The sprinkler system draws weather data from satellites to portion out just the right amount for that day, and residents can access a Web-based “dashboard” to control window shades, lights, heating and cooling from an iPhone.
“The other teams didn’t have those knock-your-socks-off special features, and our water features came off real well, but that’s California. Some of those wouldn’t work in other states,” Ashford said.
Thanks to dozens of donations from companies and nonprofits, the team spent 18 months designing and building the $1.4 million house it shipped in pieces via five freight carriers. (The home alone would cost $450,000 – $650,000 to build.) Team Spain’s house traveled across the Atlantic Ocean and included a glass inverted-pyramid on top that automatically tracks the sun for highest efficiency.
“A lot of people did some really out-there designs, which made the competition tougher,” Ashford said.
Ashford and Cline typically relieved the team’s night shift about 5 a.m. and worked until about 10 p.m. The team had a chance to catch their breath one afternoon when the Secret Service swept tourists out of the home so Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a former University of California, Berkeley, professor, and Leslie Stahl of CBS’s “60 Minutes” could film a segment for the weekly news show.
After the competition, Ashford and Cline decided to stay an extra day before returning home last week to check out some museums and witness various protests.
“We had such a good time working with all the young people,” Ashford said. “Washington’s a very interesting town.”
Click here to see the overall standings.
