Cal Poly a Bright Spot in Contest

By Sally Connell, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Oct. 15–Despite rainy, overcast skies blocking the sun’s rays from the electrical batteries, the house built by Cal Poly architecture and design students was able to power past many of its competitors in the international Solar Decathlon on the national mall in Washington, D.C.

Cal Poly placed third in the competition with 809 points out of a possible 1,100. The University of Colorado won first place with 853 points, and Cornell University won second with 826 points.

The competition was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, and the rule was that the house had to exist off the grid — running appliances and lights and charging an electric car solely off solar power.

Cal Poly’s entry was the only one from California, and it traveled the longest over land. The house was damaged by a hit-and-run driver in Tennessee, and the team had to order replacement siding for repairs in the capital.

Winners were rewarded with bragging rights, not grant money, but Cal Poly architecture professor Sandy Stannard said the benefit is in the knowledge gleaned from the effort. She said not having any grid supply was the challenge.

“I think we believe the ideal solar house would be plugged into the power grid,” she said. “If you are on the grid, when you have excess power, you can give it back. When you don’t have enough, you can tap into it.”

She said all the teams saw power diminish during overcast days, and Cal Poly had a challenge because it had fewer house batteries and fewer roof photovoltaic cells than some competitors.

“We were calculating it out every time we were getting lower and lower,” she said. “We weren’t even opening our refrigerator at will, just when we absolutely had to.”

Gaming the energy requirements became a big part of the competition, according to Cal Poly student Nicholas Holmes.

“What is comfortable for us or how we might really use the house is different from how we had to manage the house for competition,” he said.

Cal Poly won first place for the performance of energy- efficient appliances, first in lighting, and second overall in architecture, dwelling and comfort zone. It competed against 17 universities from across the United States, Canada and Europe.

Public hours for the competition continue through the weekend. The house will then return across country and be set back up on Cal Poly’s campus, where it will be used as a teaching tool, Stannard said.

About 100 students in all worked on the project, with a limited number able to travel to the capital. It cost about $500,000, Stannard said, and the project is still raising funds to pay off a $100,000 shortfall. Donations can be made through the Cal Poly College of Architecture and Environmental Design.

“We would hope it strengthens our reputation as educators of sustainable building design,” she said.

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