Students instralling a solar panelEvery two years, the U.S. Department of Energy holds the Solar Decathlon competition. Universities from around the world enter and compete by building a house that runs solely on energy drawn from the sun. The University of Illinois will compete for the second time in October 2009. Hundreds of students on campus have been involved in designing and constructing the Gable Home for the competition in Washington, D.C.
Written by By Kathryn L. Heine
Students instralling a solar panel
Students instralling a solar panel
Every two years, the U.S. Department of Energy holds the Solar Decathlon competition. Universities from around the world enter and compete by building a house that runs solely on energy drawn from the sun. The University of Illinois will compete for the second time in October 2009. Hundreds of students on campus have been involved in designing and constructing the Gable Home for the competition in Washington, D.C.
The Gable Home will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 12, and Sunday, September 13. Students are still putting final touches on the home, which features custom heating, air-conditioning and water heating systems designed by MechSE senior design teams.
A key objective was to design the HVAC system to maintain an interior temperature between 72 and 76 degrees Fahrenheit and a relative humidity of 40 to 50 percent. Another goal was to select and implement a water heating system that could provide the house with 110 degree Fahrenheit water at a rate of 1.5 gallons per minute for 10 minutes. MechSE seniors collaborated with students from other departments who worked on home automation, archietectural design, market viability, lighting design and communications.