Videos from the 2013 Solar Decathlon in Irvine, CA

Videos from the 2013 Solar Decathlon in Irvine, CA

In these inspiring Solar Decathlon video highlights, we've captured the enthusiasm and creativity of hundreds of university students from around the world. See everything from solar electric power, solar hot water, radiant heating, reclaimed wood and steel materials, living roofs and gardens, and absolutely cool design for any environment. Check it out — These are some of best, most informative solar videos that you will see this year!

Solar Decathlon 2013: Austria Team Austria's Living Inspired by Sustainable Innovation (LISI) from the Vienna U. of Technology is an atrium-style house typical for Austria, envisioned as a sustainable urban cottage or a contemporary chalet for mountain and lake resorts. The open space has fully retractable glass... View Now » Solar Decathlon 2013: UNLV The U. of Nevada-Las Vegas won the Market Appeal competition for designing and executing their DesertSol home for their target market and audience. Their house was designed to "reflect the spirit of the Mojave Desert [...] with reverence to the sun as both a source of ... View Now » Solar Decathlon 2013: Czech Technical University Take a tour with us through the Czech Technical University's AIR house (Affordable, Innovative, and Recyclable), with design inspired by 50-plus-year-old empty nesters nearing retirement. A minimum interior living area is balanced by a generous outdoor terrace, and the ... View Now » Solar Decathlon 2013: Middlebury Middlebury College's InSite moved the solar PV array off the roof entirely to create a "solar path" behind the back patio -- almost resembling a tallish ground-mount system -- providing shading and the template for a "solar path" in an envisioned community solar deployment. The 7.2-kW system's Lumos frameless modules were ... View Now » Solar Decathlon 2013: Ontario The ECHO house from Team Ontario (Queen's University, Carleton University, and Algonquin College) took top marks in the Engineering category, which ranked five criteria: functionality (did energy and HVAC systems work), efficiency (how much would it save in a year), innovation (are the approaches unique, with market potential), and reliability (how long will they operate and requiring how much maintenance). Their ECHO house offers a ... View Now » Solar Decathlon 2013: Stevens Institute of Technology Every Solar Decathlon house had some version of solar PV panel except Stevens -- the 5.8-kW array on their Ecohabit house incorporated Dow Powerhouse Solar Shingles, essentially invisible from ground level, on a portion of their roof to provide power. A Dow rep inside the house noted their product ... View Now » Solar Decathlon 2013: Inside the Microgrid Schneider Electric's Phil Davis talks about the design and management of the Solar Decathlon's microgrid which allows all the homes to be truly net-metered, which means extra attention must be paid to interconnect issues, safety, and reliability. What impresses him most ... View Now »