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Solar Decathlon Blog - Energy Balance

Below you will find Solar Decathlon news from the Energy Balance archive, sorted by date.

Solar Design Lessons from the 2017 Solar Decathlon Winners

Thursday, October 26, 2017

This article was originally published on the blog of Aurora Solar, a solar design and sales software company.

By Andrew Gong

Two weeks ago, during the Solar Decathlon 2017 competition, we explored the solar powered house designs from participating university teams. The designs showcased many creative and resourceful design strategies—and presented a fun challenge for modeling in Aurora.

With the competition now complete, today’s post takes a closer look at the top three teams to identify some of the solar design lessons from their success.

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Back to the Future, Solar Decathlon Style

Monday, October 23, 2017

By Ruby Theresa Nahan

Now that Solar Decathlon 2017 has officially come to a close, and the 11 innovative houses have moved from the competition site at the 61st and Peña Station in Denver to their next destination, I think it’s a perfect time to reflect on the impact the Solar Decathlon might have on the future. Most students who have participated in Solar Decathlon since 2002 might not be familiar with the 1985 film to which my title alludes, but all are very familiar with, quite literally, holding the future in their own hands. Even if they don’t realize it yet.

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Behind the Numbers: Solar Decathlon Scoring Explained

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

By Daniel Rubin and Alexis Powers

At the writing of this post, only two-tenths of a point separate first and second place in Solar Decathlon 2017. We are six days into the competition, and there are three days left.

What’s on the line?

Cash prizes up to $300,000 for the winner. And bragging rights of course (priceless).

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Balance of Power: Solar Decathlon Contest Requires Energy Efficiency and Power Production

Thursday, July 17, 2014

By Carol Laurie

Not consuming energy is better than buying or producing it—even when that energy is generated by clean, renewable solar. That’s the message the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 is sending to decathletes through the Energy Balance Contest, which measures the energy each team house produces and consumes over the course of the competition.

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Solar Decathlon Village Powered by Microgrid and Sponsor Support

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

By Carol Laurie

Since the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2009, a temporary, ground-laid electrical grid (or “microgrid”) has connected Solar Decathlon houses with one another and the local utility. The village microgrid allows excess power generated by the houses’ solar electric systems to be sent back to the larger city utility grid and its customers. The microgrid also enables the competition houses to draw energy from the utility when consumption exceeds production.

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New Contest Data Displays Provide Insight into Competition Scoring

Saturday, October 5, 2013

By Solar Decathlon

New contest data displays are now available on the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon website. If you are interested in the real-time performance of each house and want to keep a close eye on the competition, check out the Contests section pages.

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University of Wollongong Wins SD China!

Sunday, August 11, 2013

By Richard King

I am proud to be an American—and prouder yet to be an employee of the U.S. Department of Energy. We brought an inspiring and beneficial competition to the People’s Republic of China! By the end of the event, a quarter-million people will visit the competition houses displayed at Solar Decathlon China. The event has made a real impression on the government and people of Datong. I hope it leads to positive change.

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Solar Decathlon Data Demystification

Thursday, September 29, 2011

By Alexis Powers

How do you identify the measured contest captain on each U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon team? Listen for words such as datalogger, monitored performance subcontest, and database-driven scoring application.

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Energy Balance Contest Rewards Teams for Producing Only the Energy They Need

Friday, September 23, 2011

By Carol Anna

One of the 10 contests in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011, Energy Balance measures the net energy each house produces or consumes over the course of the competition.

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