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North view of concept drawing of Madrid's Solar Decathlon house.
South view of concept drawing of Madrid's Solar Decathlon house.
2007 Madrid Team
Richard King with Sergio Vega, Project Manager for the University of Madrid Solar Decathlon Team.
The University of Madrid's construction site showing the first sections of framing being assembled. The site is in the parking lot of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Research Center in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
I had a wonderful visit today out at the University of Madrid's Solar Decathlon construction site. No, I did not have to fly overseas; they are here in the States, pre-assembling their house in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, outside Washington, DC.
This is the second Solar Decathlon for the Madrid team and they want to get an early jump on the American competition. By building the house close to Washington and checking all systems to get everything in tip-top shape for the start of the competition on October 12th, they hope to perform better than they did in 2005.
In 2005, their house arrived by ship from Spain, slightly late and slightly damaged. With little time to assemble and fix their house on the National Mall, their performance suffered and Madrid finished in ninth place. This year, I'm sure the Madrid team will do better. In fact, I expect this powerhouse from Spain to be in the top five, giving the rest of the teams a real contest! Their design is exquisite, and this time everything should work.
For more information about the Madrid team, visit the Teams page on the Solar Decathlon Web site, where you'll find a link to Madrid's team Web site.