Live from the Solar Decathlon in DC
I’m sitting on the porch of the Georgia Tech’s Solar Home, listening in on the strategy sessions on regulating the power from the array of solar panels on the roof. The competition’s scoring system has all kinds of regulations, rules, and ways to earn points. This means the strategies range from making sure the electric car is drawing excess energy from the panels, while running the dishwasher to using passive cooling (opening the doors) versus simply saving up energy to complete the energy balance (no net loss) daily.
The competition is really heating up. Georgia Tech’s team is a bit bummed about their placement in the Lighting category. Their entire concept is based on Lighting — and is quite spectacular, with the best natural light of all the homes, in my humble opinion. Somehow, with their clever use of LED, florescent, and sun-light, they got placed last (20th), and not just last, but quite far behind the 19th place finisher. It’s quite baffling, and it’s dropped them from 2nd to 4th, which says a lot about how well they’re still doing in every other category.
The mood on the mall of DC is very cool. Last night, Jodi was giving me a “private” tour when Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) walked up with a few aides, and wanted a tour as well. So, Bernie and I toured the home with Jodi as our guide.
