The US took first place in the Solar Decathlon this past June for the first time since the competition began in 2007. The Solar Decathlon Europe, organized by the Spanish Ministry of Housing, is modeled after the Solar Decathlon that is held by the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. The competition was started in the US with the primary goal of constructing usable, self-sufficient and comfortable houses completely sustained by solar energy. Germany has won the competition every year for the past 3 years.
17 universities primarily from the US and Europe competed this year, with Virginia Polytechnic Institute’s ‘Lumenhaus’ home design taking the grand prize.
Majority of the competitors used SunPower panels to power their homes due to the solar energy maker’s superior panel efficiencies and outstanding aesthetics. SunPower panels have been used by the last 3 first place teams in the US competitions. For this competition, many of the first place individual winners used SunPower products for their designs. Winner of first prize in the category of Industrialization and Viability utilized the SunPower 225 (W) panel, and the SunPower 230 (W) panel was used by the winners of the top award in the Communication and Social Awareness category. SunPower also took awards in Sustainability and was used by the team that won the competition for Public and Web Favorite design.
Check out more photos of SunPower products in Swan Solar installations (solar panel picture gallery), a “Premier Dealer” of SunPower solar panels.
Ross Reedy
Swan Solar Energy Designer
Free Solar Energy Consultations
