I have had the pleasure to spend some time over the last month volunteering and consulting with The Ohio State University Solar Decathlon Team on the design and installation of the 8 kW PV system on their Solar Decathlon House.
The Solar Decathlon, it is a biannual event that pits collegiate teams from all over the world to design and build solar homes that are judged in a series of 10 contests. Two years ago, the OSU team finished 10th. This year, they’re hoping to improve on their previous finish.Last night was the official send-off. Faculty and Staff from the University were on hand including President Dr. E. Gordon Gee, as well as employees from key sponsors such as Owens Corning, AEP, and First Solar. The house is pretty close to being finished and will be disassembled later this week to ship out to Washington DC.
The house is quite amazing with all of the engineering and technology behind it. I’ll provide some more updates with some specifics on the PV system in future blog posts. In the meantime, below are some links with additional information regarding this really cool project!