dagblog - Comments for "Solar Decathlon: Wrapping It Up"

I found this on Ohio State's

Donal — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:13:22 +0000

In reply to Cool writeup. Question: what

I found this on Ohio State's decathlon blog. Sounds like it was touch and go:

The energy balance could shake things up, but it would most likely hurt us significantly and not Maryland or Purdue. Purdue has a -12.9 kWh deficit, Maryland is at -17.3 kWh, and we are at -29 kWh. Yesterday's sun was decent, and everyone was net-positive for the day. Maryland and Purdue have bigger solar arrays than us and did better. More sun is predicted for today, but our energy balance will be really, really close. We need to produce about 40kWh in order to be able to run all contests and be net-zero for the week. Here is the bad news: for every 1 kWh negative, we loose two points! We may have to move into damage-control mode and drop some contests in order to lose the least number of points overall.

With Purdue having the smallest deficit and the largest array, if the sun does not shine, they could jump into first place. If it is mostly sunny but we do not make enough power, Purdue will almost certainly move into 2nd place. Sci-Arc/Caltech is also lurking in 4th place (about 12 points behind us) with an even smaller deficit. At the same time, it is currently anyone's guess how many points we will get from the Communications and Market Appeal contests. As you can imagine, this is all quite nerve wracking.

MD, Purdue, Sci-Arc/CalTech and four other teams scored perfect 100s, but OSU scored only 88 points in Energy Balance, so they must have been -6 KWh negative.

I love this stuff! I do not

Richard Day — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:42:18 +0000

In reply to Solar Decathlon: Wrapping It Up

I love this stuff!

I do not know how else to put it!

Instead of these nonsensical energy eating edifices....

LET US TRY SOMETHING ELSE!

Our house was built in 1949 -

Donal — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:18:30 +0000

In reply to Thanks Donal. I assume you

Our house was built in 1949 - coal was so cheap then that no one bothered with insulation. We gutted it and insulated everything, but we have a bad orientation for passive solar.

Thanks Donal. I assume you

Oxy Mora — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:00:25 +0000

In reply to The houses had to be between

Thanks Donal. I assume you designed your own house. That can be the most challenging assignment of all.

Maybe all this design "stimulus" will get my animal spirits going again. It's been so hot that I have just delayed doing any more projects.

In terms of the "green revolution" we sometimes overlook the most basic things. We recently painted a coating of radiant barrier on a N.Texas house which had not used solar board for roofing and the effect was amazing.

Thanks, Va. That was very

Oxy Mora — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:50:23 +0000

In reply to I like working with small

Thanks, Va. That was very useful, and gave me an idea on a sliding wall concept.

330 feet, wow, amazing.

The houses had to be between

Donal — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:37:21 +0000

In reply to Thanks for bringing this

The houses had to be between 600 and 1,000 Square Feet. WaterShed was almost 900 SF and Self-Reliance was 990 SF. Not sure about Parsons, but they plan to add a second story after moving it to Deanwood.

Our 2 BR house is 950 SF, so we found it interesting to compare spaces with the entries.

I like working with small

Verified Atheist — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:29:38 +0000

In reply to Thanks for bringing this

I like working with small spaces, seeing how much can be achieved in such.

I built several "cottages" on

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:27:28 +0000

In reply to Thanks for bringing this

I built several "cottages" on country property in Texas last year and experimented with materials, insulation, etc., and using local labor, fortunately no building codes there. Then in January I roughed out a two story barn with a cement pad which I look at every weekend and try and figure out what the next steps are. As for my local neighbors, they are still trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing overall. Usually get something like, "Gonna rent these shacks when that lake goes in, huh?"

Thanks for bringing this

Oxy Mora — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:20:39 +0000

In reply to Solar Decathlon: Wrapping It Up

Thanks for bringing this forward. I envy you being able to visit the actual creations and there is nothing more contagious than design students of any stripe.

I'm struck by how large the homes are, maybe I'm not seeing the scale. Seems the Parsons one was much smaller. I like working with small spaces, seeing how much can be achieved in such.

I love modern design from an esthetic point of view but for actual daily living think there must be nooks and crannies which provide a more "wrapped" feeling.

Excellent question: For the

Donal — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:13:56 +0000

In reply to Cool writeup. Question: what

Excellent question:

For the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, each team house is equipped with a bidirectional utility meter that enables competition organizers to measure the net energy a house produces or consumes over the course of the competition.
In the Energy Balance contest, a team receives full points for producing at least as much energy as its house needs, thus achieving a net energy consumption of zero during contest week. This is accomplished by balancing production and consumption.

Most teams scored points in the Comfort Zone and Hot Water contests, but in addition to running the house, teams are supposed to accomplish certain power-intensive tasks, such as powering a plugin hybrid vehicle, drying towels, etc. It has been grey, cloudy, and pouring rain around Baltimore for the last two weeks, and I'd imagine DC fared about the same.

3rd place New Zealand was able to dry their towels with their hot water racks instead of generating and using electricity. But teams that were counting on strong sunlight to generate all the electricity they needed may have faced a reality moment.