Archive for September, 2007

A High and A Low

Published by
James Bickford
on September 30, 2007 | Solar Decathlon 2 Comments

One of my favorite graph’s at Santa Clara is the one hanging on the third floor by the robotic systems lab.  On this graph it charts the level of euphoria against time.  The graph is titled “A project.” 

 On the Solar Decathlon we have a little project too, and like the graph hanging in the robotic systems lab we started at euphoric, dropped to blind hatred, and setlled out at residual tolerance level.  Unlike the team that posted the flyer, for many of this, this happens over the course of 24 hours.

 Happy: the house was successfully hoisted onto a flatbed truck via a crane.  All were delighted that the house had no problems.  We all got a two hour break from hard work in order to watch the spectacle.

 Blind Raging Hatred:  as the truck was pulling out of the parking lot it bottomed out on the steep grade.  This forced all the weight of nearly 50,000 pounds onto one axle.  Needless to say, this axle bent 6 inches and the truck did not depart on time.

 Pseudo-happy-but-also-tired:  at about 1 a.m. we finished installing a new axle and retired to bed nursing aching muscles.

Despair:  Dr. Hight calls at 7:45 am to say that we have more work to do in order to bolt the house onto the trailer.

 Relief:  Truck pulls out onto el Camino and disappears.

Then a quick 36 hours later we arrived in D.C.  One of the greatest moments of this project was riding the Metro from Reagan to our new home and seeing a giant BP sponsored add declaring that it is “Take your sun to work day” and advising people to come see the Solar Decathlon October 12 - 19.

 All is well in the SCU encampent.  Many people have arrived and begun logistical planning, many more are eagerly awaiting their turn back home.  With every chance to win, optimism has begun to breathe new life into the team.

 I for one am honored at the magnitude of what we are about to undertake.  No matter where we stand in 20 days, I know that everyone involved in the Solar Decathlon will have some awesome memories to cherish.

Weather

Published by
James Bickford
on September 21, 2007 | Solar Decathlon 1 Comment

It seems only fitting that we should get to rain test our house along with all the competitors.  I have been looking at the other team’s blogs and laughing as I read anecdotes of rain-drenched students putting siding on houses.  As Karma would have it, we had an early California weather front that brought in some rain today, as we packed the house onto the truck.

This evening we were on site till about 9pm organizing and packing materials.  About 8:45 Agus and I were about 20 feet in the air disassembling  our scafolds.  About 10 miles away a strike of lightning lit up the sky.  As we were 20 feet in the air hanging on to metal we felt pretty safe.  We quickly completed our work and decided to call it a day.

All is well  in the SCU SD world.  We will be loading the house on Sunday, shipping the trucks on Tuesday, and the first of us show up in D.C. late next week.  I would say that tensions are high, expectations are high, and pride is also high.  No matter what, this is going to be a really fun month, and one of the highlights of my life.

New beginnings

Published by
Christopher Pioli
on September 17, 2007 | Solar Decathlon 0 Comments

I just picked up my tickets for the round trip to and from Washington D.C. Wow, it feels so weird. When I first started working on this project, I never thought I would have the opportunity to go to D.C. and give tours to the public. I did not know enough about the engineering feats back then, but I suppose the more I wanted to help out the more involved I became, and the more involved I became the more I learned and the more people could rely upon me.

Oh right. My name is Chris Pioli, and I graduated from Santa Clara University this past June with a degree in Computer Science and a minor in Studio Art. The work I have done with the university’s Solar Decathlon team includes developing Flash animations and a virtual tour for the website. The goal behind these features are to allow people unable to visit our house on-site at the Solar Decathlon this coming October to learn about its features and how awesome it looks. I believe that even though my work for our team may not seem as important as the engineering or the construction, it still serves a very important purpose. One of the important things we have to remember about this competition is that regardless of what university obtains the most points in the competitions, the real winners are the people. The thing a lot of us forget or might misunderstand is that despite the fact that this is a competition, it is really a venue to convey that solar power is a viable and accessible method of powering homes. Solar panel technology is not limited to the realm of science-fiction anymore. They have been in production for some time, and there is demand. The problem is that many people - both in the United States and abroad - are completely unaware of this.

And that’s why we’re here. The competition aspect is a means of motivating the teams to build the best houses they can. Even if our team doesn’t win a trophy, the fact that we’ve been chosen to develop an energy-efficient house is both an incredible opportunity and an esteemed honor. In the grand scheme our accomplishments might seem meager and our names probably won’t be written in the annals of history, but who cares? Acknowledgment of past work is insignificant next to the effect they have on future generations, and if our work can convince American citizens to live more sustainable lives then we have made the world that much better for our children and their children as well.

…however, recognition and acknowledgment of our hard work in the present day is always welcome.

I forgot to mention one last job I have: I will be in Washington D.C. throughout the assembly, competition, and disassembly portions of the competition blogging all of the events for you, our faithful and devoted audience. You can expect daily updates with photographs, summaries and commentary from me - Chris Pioli - as well as special additions from other members of our team including Communication team members Meghan Mooney, Evan Sarkesian, and Engineers such as the Fonts brothers Agustine and Alberto.

Economics: Money or Energy?

Published by
Nora Hendrickson
on September 14, 2007 | Solar Decathlon 1 Comment

When I first began this journey called Solar Decathlon I never thought I would become a businesswoman. However, I was elected the Team Leader for the Economics Team and began to learn about all that Economics can entail. The Economics section for the competition is a new addition to the decathlon this year, thus few rules were given for the specifics of the necessary reports. There are many areas of economics that can relate to engineering in many different ways; the focus of my economic research has mostly been related to energy and cost analysis.

In the current business world, there is a booming market called Solar Energy. This new economic niche has brought millions of dollars to a small number of business owners and even fewer homeowners. However, the goal of the Economic report is to show how solar energy can be a reasonably priced and efficient for the “average” consumer. And how more homeowners can also enter this new and growing market. To my surprise, economics can be broken down into simple categories of costs; current costs, saved costs and future costs. It can be hard to understand the different types of operating costs that a homeowner faces because homes differ in size, age and efficiency. But one fact remains true with any home that exists; there is always a better solution to save money and energy.

Energy Economic relates to the total amount of energy that a home or building can produce to the actual energy consumption. The more energy that a home can create on it’s own the more efficient it will likely be. Solar panels and collectors add to the effeciency of any building and are a sound investment. There are some speculations that solar panels are too expensive for residential use; however many government and private programs offer homeowners discounts or rebates for buying and installing solar panels on a home. The average payback for an investment on solar panels is about five to seven years. With time, this period is expected to decrease as the cost of solar panels will also decrease. There are many benefits for installing solar panels on a home or building. Not only will the home be more sustainable and efficient, but power costs will drop, too. A consumer whom has solar panels installed and has the capability to store unused energy can actually sell that stored energy back to their power company. This sometimes comes in the form of energy credits or monetary rebates. In either case, solar power is a win-win situation.

The flip side of energy economics is money economics, which nobody likes to talk about. However, when it comes down to the bottom line, may people might not expect to save as much money as is actually possible. There are some surprises when it comes to the costs of solar projects. The total pricetag for the Santa Clara University competition house is roughly $500, 000 including transportation costs to and from Washington D.C. The importance of the Economics portion of the decathlon is to provide a reasonable cost analysis of what a consumer would pay to build our home. Based on research and references it would take a consumer or homebuilder $400, 000 to build a similar version of our home. The beauty of this adventure is the ability for a consumer to customize their home based on their location. A consumer whom lives in an area with a lot of sun may want to include a lot of solar panels, which can be expensive. Whereas, a consumer whom lives in an area with not a lot of sun during the year might spend money differently. The money that we have spent on our house has been added and reflected upon. Our investment is sound and worth the time and effort that our entire team has put forth.

Through it all, I have become a businesswoman and learned more than any business class can teach me. I learned about an interesting subject and picked up a new set of vocabulary. So the next time you hear someone talking about economics ask them how they think EEMs add to the value of a home, or how a BIPV can change the marketability of a home, or how their home or building rates on the LCoe calculator. If they are an economist, they will have a lot of knowledge to share with you. And you too, can say that you have become a novice economist.

Divergent Problems and Convergent Minds

Published by
Timothy Healy
on September 13, 2007 | Solar Decathlon 0 Comments

This is in response to Meghan’s excellent post on “greenies and techies”. I think that Meghan has identified nicely what E.F.Schumacher called a “divergent problem”, that is, one that cannot be solved. In Meghan’s terms “open-ended and full of possibility”. This is the way Schumacher put it (1977):

“Divergent problems offend the logical mind, which wishes to remove tension by coming down on one side or the other, but they provoke, stimulate and sharpen the higher human faculties, without which man is nothing but a clever animal.”

Life gives us divergent problems, but it is just easier to try to solve them with convergent approaches. David Orr thinks we need to bring a new spirit to bear on such problems.

“The transition to sustainability will require learning how to recognize and resolve divergent problems, which is to say a higher level of spiritual awareness. By whatever name, something akin to spiritual renewal is the sine qua non of the transition to sustainability. Scientists in a secular culture are often uneasy about matters of spirit, but science on its own can give no reason for sustaining humankind. It can, with equal rigor, create the knowledge that will cause our demise or that necessary to live at peace with each other and nature. But the spiritual acumen necessary to solve divergent problems posed by the transition to sustainability cannot be just a return to some simplistic religious faith of an earlier time. It must be founded on a higher order of awareness that honors mystery, science, life, and death.”

David Orr (http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/4CofS.html)