Tomorrow’s leaders are already working towards a cleaner future — that could be as bright as the sun.

The Solar Decathlon, an international competition hosted by the US Department of Energy (DOE), is showcasing solar-powered home designs created by students from around the world.

Students selected to participate were given two years to design and build the prototype solar homes, which must be carbon neutral and completely powered by the sun. The projects, many costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, are on display at the National Mall in Washington through Sunday (Oct. 18).

Two thousand students came together to form 20 teams, which are competing to win prizes in several categories, such as best architecture or engineering or “comfort zone”.

The Solar Decathlon Proposal Review Committee, which is made up of engineers, scientist, and other experts from the DOE and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory, selected the teams that they thought had the ability to meet the strict structural and safety requirements. Once selected, each team was given $100,000 to get started. Projects often require more, so individual teams then raise any additional funds.

“The U.S. Department of Energy supports the Solar Decathlon to encourage young people to pursue careers in science and engineering. DOE also supports the event to help move solar energy technologies to the market place faster. The Solar Decathlon helps accelerate the research and development of energy-efficiency and energy production technologies,” said John Horst, spokesperson for the Department of Energy.

The Solar Village

The 800-square-feet homes must be completely powered by the sun. They are meant to be prototype zero-energy, zero-carbon homes. The hope is that this competition stimulates research that will reduce the cost of solar-powered homes and the advancement of solar technology. While the Solar Decathlon aims to find ways to save money with solar technology, design and comfort are important as well.

The student teams represent universities from across North America, and two from Europe:

Reflective Louvers

• Cornell University
• Iowa State University
• Penn State
• Rice University
• Team Alberta (University of Calgary, SAIT Polytechnic, Alberta College of Art + Design, Mount Royal College)
• Team Boston (Boston Architectural College, Tufts University)
• Team California (Santa Clara University, California College of the Arts)
• Team Germany (Technische Universität Darmstadt)
• Team Missouri (Missouri University of Science and Technology, University of Missouri)
• Team Ontario/BC (University of Waterloo, Ryerson University, Simon Fraser University)
• Team Spain (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid)
• The Ohio State University
• The University of Arizona
• Universidad de Puerto Rico
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• University of Kentucky
• University of Louisiana at Lafayette
• University of Minnesota
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Virginia Tech
  

  A student built solar home

There are a total of 10 contests throughout the competition, which began Oct. 8.

• Architecture: Architectural elements, holistic design, and inspiration are evaluated when looking at a house’s design. Market Viability: Houses are marketed to an audience of the team’s choice. Points are given based on a realistic approach to affordability, livability, ease of building, and marketability.
• Engineering: Houses are assessed based on reliability, innovation, efficiency, and functionality in engineering excellence.
• Lighting Design: Houses must include functional, energy-efficient, and aesthetically pleasing lighting systems. The judges score on the following categories: electric lighting quality, day lighting quality, ease of operation, flexibility, energy efficiency, and building integration.
• Communications: Teams are scored based on their verbal, written, and photographic communication of their houses. Messages must be consistent, effective, and able to engage a wide audience.
• Comfort Zone: In order to score points in this contest, houses must maintain a certain temperature and humidity inside during the competition.
• Hot Water: This contest displays how solar hot water systems are able to supply enough hot water daily.
• Appliances: House appliances must run like those of the average US home while using less energy. Throughout the contest, the houses must keep refrigerator and freezer temperatures within the typical range, wash and dry laundry, as well as run the dishwasher.
• Home Entertainment: This contest exhibits the houses’ ability to go beyond basic functions, like powering modern electronics and conveniences.
• Net Metering: The newest contest, measures how much energy the houses produce and consume throughout the competition, and rewards teams for producing more energy than they consume.

“Certainly it’s also important to raise awareness among the general public about renewable energy and energy efficiency and what technologies are available — that is, commercial off-the-shelf materials and supplies – today that can be used to help reduce energy use,” said Horst.

The Solar Decathlon encourages students to find practical solutions to a global problem. Their research is expected to be influential in the marketplace and bridge the worlds of science and business, showing that they have both dollar and environmental value.

The need for alternative energy is no longer an issue for the future. According to the US Department of Energy, the United States consumes about 100 quads of energy per year, with 22% of that coming from the residential sector. The cost of that energy is almost $1 million per minute, and the US consumes one-fourth of the world’s energy resources, but only contains 5% of the world’s population.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Tesla Motors Inc. has been approved for about $465 million in low-interest loans from the US Department of Energy to help speed production of its own and other company’s electric cars.

The California company will use $365 million of the money toward producing its Model S – an all-electric family sedan that could carry seven people and travel up to 300 miles per charge.

Now fasten your seatbelt: The car would cost about $50,000, after a $7,500 US federal tax credit. But Tesla suggests that it would be similar to a $35,000 conventional car, because it would cost less to operate (electricity vs. gasoline) and require little maintenance, according to a press release from the company, which estimates production of the Model S would begin in late 2011.
Tesla will use the remaining $100 million in loans to support a powertrain manufacturing plant, which would supply power trains to other automakers in the hope of hastening mass-market electric vehicles.

The Model S production and the power train plant would employ about 1,000 and 650 workers respectively, Tesla reports.

The loans come from a program started in 2007 to help reduce American dependence on foreign oil and produce green collar jobs. The Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program is not a part of the 2008 stimulus package.

“Tesla will use the ATVM loan precisely the way that Congress intended — as the capital needed to build sustainable transport,” promised Tesla CEO and Product Architect Elon Musk in the news release.

The Silicon Valley company is known for producing the technologically advanced vehicle Roadster, an all-electric sports car that can travel 244 miles on a charge and emits no harmful air emissions. Tesla has sold about 500 Roadsters and recently announced that it expects its Roadster business to be profitable in the third quarter of this year. The Roadster, which can go from 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, costs $101,500 after a $7,500 federal tax credit.

Both the Roadster and the Model S are clean energy vehicles, with no tailpipe emissions. They require no oil changes and operate with fewer moving parts than conventional gas engine cars.

Shifting the U.S. toward more renewable wind and solar power would not only generate thousands of jobs and lower consumers’ electric bills, it would create new income for rural residents and vastly reduce carbon emissions, according to a new analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The UCS released a study today showing that if utilities were required to obtain 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025 it would:

• Create nearly 300,000 new domestic jobs

• Save consumers some $65 billion in lower gas and electricity bills through 2025; up to $95 billion through 2030.

• Generate $13.5 billion in new income for farmers, ranchers and rural landowners who could gain from hosting new wind and solar installations

• Reduce global warming pollution by 277 million metric tons a year by 2025, the equivalent of the annual output of 70 average-size new coal-fired power plants.

The analysis was released as Congress considers enacting a renewable energy standard (RES) – a requirement that U.S. utilities obtain a certain percentage of their power from renewable sources. Bills calling for an increase in renewable power to 25 percent by 2025 are active in both the House and the Senate.

“A strong renewable electricity standard would help pull our economy out of the ditch by creating nearly 300,000 new jobs,” said Jeff Deyette, an analyst with the UCS Clean Energy Program and co-author of the study, in a statement.

“Our study found that, kilowatt-hour for kilowatt-hour, renewable energy generates more than three times as many jobs than fossil fuels, leading to a net job gain of 202,000. More renewable energy would mean more workers building wind turbines and installing solar panels here in the United States.”

Said Alan Nogee, the UCS Clean Energy Program director: “A typical household would save nearly $70 in annual gas and electricity costs by 2025. Every little bit helps.”

Hot showers are now on sale.

The $787 billion economic stimulus package signed into law last month by President Barack Obama expands the tax credit for the purchase of a solar water heating system, significantly reducing the price tag of a system.

The federal tax credit had been capped at $2,000. That limit is now lifted and the tax credit is 30 percent of the cost of a solar water heating system.

And a tax credit is much more valuable than a tax deduction.

Let’s say you install an $8,000 system. Your 30 percent tax credit is $2,400. Next April you figure you owe Uncle Sam $3,400. Subtract the $2,400 and now you’re writing the Internal Revenue Service a check for just $1,000.

Add in state tax credits and local utility rebates available in some states and you drop your upfront costs even more. But whatever your out-of-pocket expenses, it’s a good investment, solar advocates say.

Heating water for showers, laundry and washing the dishes accounts for 25-30 percent of the energy use of a typical home. An estimated $13 billion is spent each year for home water heating in the United States.

How much a solar water heating system saves you depends on where you live and how you’re now heating your water.

“If you’re heating with oil, or if you have an electric hot water heater, the economies are outstanding,” said Les Nelson, Executive Director, Solar Rating & Certification Corporation.

A solar system can pay for itself through utility bill savings in three to five years, Nelson said.

Playing around with a calculator available at Solar Estimate.org shows how the savings vary. For example, installing a $6,000 system on the roof of an Atlanta home would cost about $2,700 after federal and state tax credits. The monthly utility bill would drop $38-$57 if heating with electricity; $28 if heating with natural gas.

In hot and sunny Phoenix, you need a smaller system and your net cost after tax credits and rebates is just $1,465. You can expect to cut your electric bill by $39 to $58 a month.

The previous federal income tax credit for solar water heaters – capped at $2,000 – boosted installation of the systems, Nelson said. The number grew from about 6,000 a year before the $2,000 credit to 20,500 in 2008.