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To the cheers of hundreds of student decathletes, Secretary of Energy Dr. Ernest Moniz brandished a pair of giant scissors and cut a ceremonial ribbon to open the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 village. The competition and public exhibit have begun!
Western New York may not be known as a hotbed of solar energy innovation yet, but the addition of the ultra-efficient Alf House is beginning to change that.
Today, Solar Decathlon organizers announced that Yale University has withdrawn from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015.
“Unfortunately, Yale has withdrawn from the competition,” said Richard King, Solar Decathlon director. “I am extremely sad to see them go, as they were a tight-knit group of competitors who worked very hard on their project over the past two years. This is a disappointment for everyone.”
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015's Team Orange County—comprising the University of California, Irvine; Chapman University; Irvine Valley College; and Saddleback College—was looking for a way to represent its home territory. After all, the competition is taking place in its backyard.
The University of California, Davis, has strong pedigrees in both sustainable projects and agricultural research. So even though Solar Decathlon 2015 is the first U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon for the school, its Aggie Sol house already has a legacy to draw upon. Its sports teams are dubbed the Aggies for the school’s agricultural and sustainable bent, and its Solar Decathlon 2015 project reflects that mission.
Although founded more than three centuries ago, Yale University is in its first Solar Decathlon this year. The team members had to scramble to make up for lost time. When they began their U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 project nearly two years ago, the team consisted of eight inexperienced freshmen and sophomores.
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 Western New England University, Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, and Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana team is seeking a blend in its Efficient, Affordable, Solar, Innovation—or EASI—House.
INhouse, the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 project from the California Polytechnic State University team, is designed to respond to the university’s spectacular surroundings in San Luis Obispo near the Pacific Ocean.
Tornadoes are common in Missouri. But the twister that hit Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011, provided special motivation for the Crowder College and Drury University team’s U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 project. That monster storm, packing winds greater than 200 mph, killed 161 people and caused billions of dollars in damage near Crowder College’s campus, which is only 80 miles from Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. Although tornadoes are common, natives don’t take their destructive power lightly.
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 team from University of Florida, National University of Singapore, and Santa Fe College has set out to design and build a house that, in its own words, “basks in the sun.” And its Solar Living House does exactly that.
