Tag archives for Solar Decathlon
Posted by The University of Maryland is the winner of the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon, a program that challenges international teams of college students with designing, building, and operating cost effective, energy efficient, and attractive solar-powered houses.
WaterShed, the University of Maryland’s house, is focused on water conservation and recycling. The house features a “green” roof that reduces rainwater runoff and increases the house’s energy efficiency, a garden, an “edible wall,” and a composting station.
Check out more photos of WaterShed and the 18 other competing houses.
Which house would have gotten your vote?
Photographs by Jim Tetro/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon
College students from around the world are competing at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon this week on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. During the ten-day competition, each team created and displayed model homes that harness solar energy to heat, cool, and power the homes.
The Solar Decathlon began on September 23 and runs through October 2.
Learn more about the Solar Decathlon on the U.S. Department of Energy’s website.
See pictures from the 2011 Solar Decathlon on National Geographic News.
Read about cow power on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph courtesy Lauren Rogers
German Students Win Solar House Contest
Photograph by Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon
Team Germany won the Solar Decathlon contest to create a house that uses solar power to supply energy for everything in the house, from the computer to the TV. Architecture and engineering students from around the world competed in the decathlon. The winning house, built of solar panels and colorful acrylic panels the team called “sun freckles,” was one of 20 designs that were set up on the Mall in Washington, D.C. for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon.
Watch a video and see the winning house on National Geographic News!
Would you want to design a solar house?
