Santa Clara University

Solar Decathlon Team Ships House to D.C.

Team members look on as the Solar Decathlon house is loaded on the trailer.

Capping 16 months of exhaustive engineering, construction, and fundraising, the SCU Solar Decathlon team performed a last series of tests of their controls system and then dismantled the deck, removed the siding, disconnected the appliances, and watched as their entry into the U.S. Department of Energy’s competition was hoisted onto a 60-foot trailer for its trip to Washington, D.C.

The team had been working nearly round the clock for the past few weeks in a last-ditch push to get their house on the road in time to reach its destination on the National Mall by early October. Once the house is reassembled, the team will compete against 19 other universities from around the world in 10 events that will test the functionality of the totally solar-powered homes.

The result of the SCU team’s hard work is an elegantly designed and crafted 650-square-foot house that brings cutting-edge technology home. For more on the design elements, see the accompanying article later in this issue. And be sure to check on the team’s progress at www.scusolar.org and www.scu.edu/engineering.