-they went through a rigorous series of environmental assessments, including the high bars set by NEPA and the California Environmental Quality Act, passing with flying colors. This was not only a scientific assessment but included meeting key stakeholders and developing mitigation plans which included things like not grading the sites and clipping, not removing extant vegetation.

-when they found in their continuing monitoring of the site that there were more endangered tortoises that initial censuses indicated, they scaled back the size of the project by 500 acres.

None of this sounds like what the tone of your article implies. It seems to me that projects like this are being sensitively sited to minimize their habitat impacts, including using disturbed ground, sites close to existing transportation and transmission infrastructure, etc. It also sounds like they are learning and adjusting to what the data indicates is needed. What more do you want?

Article source: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/should-we-sacrifice-wildlife-for-solar-power/22400

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The heliosphere, the “bubble” in which our Sun and planets reside, is formed by the interaction between the solar wind, flowing outward from the Sun, and the interstellar medium, which presses up against it. Electrically charged, or ionized, particles cannot penetrate the boundary between these two bodies. However, neutral particles, which make up about half the material outside the heliosphere, flow freely in through the boundary.

The only other spacecraft to directly detect these inflowing neutral particles was Ulysses, which more than a decade ago measured interstellar neutral helium.

Although IBEX is designed primarily to map the interactions between the solar wind and ionized interstellar material, its low-energy energetic neutral atom camera has now also measured interstellar neutral particles not detected by Ulysses. From its location within Earth’s orbit, IBEX has sampled interstellar hydrogen, oxygen, and neon in addition to neutral helium.

Neon and oxygen reside throughout the galaxy, but researchers are unsure of their distribution. Using IBEX data, the first direct measurements of these elements in the local interstellar medium, researchers can determine how much oxygen is in the local part of the galaxy, which materials are present in what amounts and more.

“Answering these questions is important for understanding the variability of the galactic soup – the material from which stars, planets and life all form,” says Dr. David J. McComas, IBEX principal investigator and an assistant vice president at Southwest Research Institute.

For example, the presence of less oxygen in the local interstellar medium compared to the Sun and galactic average could indicate the Sun formed in a region with less oxygen than exists in its current location. Another possibility is that the oxygen could be preferentially tied up or “hidden” in other galactic materials, such as dust grains and ices.

IBEX data reveal that interstellar neutrals enter the heliosphere at a speed of about 52,000 mph, roughly, 7,000 mph slower than inferred from Ulysses observations, and that they enter from a somewhat different direction. Magnetic forces play a major role in the interactions of the charged particles at the heliosphere’s boundaries. As the overall particle speeds drop, however, the magnetic forces play an even more dominant role.

“With this lower speed, the external magnetic forces cause the heliosphere to become more squished and misshapen,” says McComas. “Rather than being shaped like a bullet moving through the air, the heliosphere becomes flattened, more like a beach ball being squeezed when someone sits on it.”

Based on the older Ulysses data, researchers had theorized that the heliosphere was leaving the local galactic cloud and transitioning into a new region of space. However, while the boundary is very close, IBEX results show the heliosphere remains fully in the local cloud, at least for the moment.

“Sometime in the next hundred to few thousand years, the blink of an eye on the timescales of the galaxy, our heliosphere should leave the local interstellar cloud and encounter a much different galactic environment,” McComas says.

Researchers will be able to add measurements about the charged particles outside the heliosphere to the neutral particle measurements provided by IBEX as the two Voyager spacecraft leave our solar system and cross the heliopause, possibly within the next few years.

“That will give us an even more complete picture of what’s happening in the regions surrounding our home in the solar system,” says McComas.

The six papers detailing the new IBEX results and an editorial written by McComas were published in a Special Supplements issue of the Astrophysical Journal called “Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX): Direct Sampling of the Interstellar Medium.”

The authors represent an international team of researchers from Southwest Research Institute, the University of Bern, Switzerland, the Polish Academy of Sciences Space Research Centre, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

IBEX is the latest in NASA’s series of low-cost, rapidly developed Small Explorer space missions. Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio leads and developed the mission with a team of national and international partners. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the Explorers Program for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Article source: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/IBEX_spacecraft_measures_alien_particles_from_outside_solar_system_999.html

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They looked like everyday pieces of patio furniture, but they had a secret.

The tables and chairs on display at Kellogg Arena as part of the Live Green Home Show and Green Vehicle Showcase were made from recycled milk jugs. Amish workers in Ohio took 650 used jugs to create one sturdy counter-height chair that retailed for $286.

The furniture impressed Jack and Judy Nutt, who came from Coldwater to take in the home show.

“It looks like they’d last forever and wouldn’t rust,” Jack Nutt said. The chairs do come with a 20-year warranty.

“They’re so comfortable, I hated to get up,” Judy Nutt said.

Along with the eco-friendly furniture, the couple examined the hybrid and electric vehicles on display and browsed the artwork for sale as part of the adjacent Art from the Heart Fair. Judy Nutt purchased child-sized aprons for her grand-daughters.

The shows continue today from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Also on display were homemade jewelry and food, home remodeling ideas and equipment for greening a home.

Garrett and Chrystal Murray of Battle Creek spent time learning about the solar panels on display by Patriot Solar Group of Albion.

Garrett Murray, author of “Extreme Survival Pocket Guide,” has been experimenting with solar panels, including attaching them to a backpack to charge electronics while hiking.

He said he was impressed with some of the offerings from Patriot Solar Group, including a roll-up solar panel.

“You can roll it up like a sleeping bag then roll it out to hook up your radio to it,” he said.

Richard Rubin of Romulus-based Maxi Container Inc. explained to visitors how his company turned plastic barrels into composting bins and rain barrels.

A composter mounted on wooden legs so that it can be turned and mixed sold for $125.

Karen Vanderveen of Battle Creek was impressed with how simple it was to mix the compost in the Maxi barrel compared to her composter at home.

“I have to use a pitch fork” she said. “This is much easier.”

John Burrell of Battle Creek said the $60 rain barrel reminded him of how his mother would collect rain water for washing her hair.

He said a rain barrel in the home made sense.

“Instead of letting the rain water run down the driveway, you can utilize it.”

Barrett Newkirk can be reached at 966-0692 or bnewkirk@battlecreekenquirer.com.

Article source: http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20120205/NEWS01/202050313

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1. Considerable Energy Savings. By supplementing to your house energy consumption with energy produced by solar panels from solar panel kits, you can cutback your energy bills in the sphere of partly. While solar to your house kits are not habitually able to fully power a standard to your house, they can concoct an gigantic difference. Concoct your own to your house solar power using solar power kits, and you save up front to the same degree well.

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Originally posted 2010-01-04 14:44:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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UNLV’s Solar Decathletes are creating the house of the future

Erin Ryan

Sat, Feb 4, 2012 (3:30 p.m.)

Imagine relaxing in a home that is completely self-sufficient and looks great to boot. UNLV is working on making this rendering a reality for the 2013 Solar Decathlon, an international competition that is all about sustainable design. Go Rebels.

At least one construction project is thriving in Las Vegas. It may only be 730 square feet, but it packs a punch.

Called “Autonomy House,” the proposed home was designed by students and professors at UNLV to be completely energy neutral—harnessing the desert sun for power, filtering rain and gray water for everyday use, and sequestering carbon in the landscaping. But sustainability isn’t the only draw. The home’s aesthetic reflects mod architectural trends, accessibility considerations and the Mojave’s spare beauty, and its potentially “zero-energy” performance means it would operate off the traditional public utility grid.

The proposal is so impressive it was selected among only 20 worldwide to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon. The competition has been driving green innovation at universities since 2002, and the fall showdown in Irvine, California, will have UNLV debuting against such juggernauts as Stanford and Cal Tech, not to mention international contenders from Austria, Canada and the Czech Republic.

“For 2013, we reviewed twice as many proposals as we could accept—and all were well written and compelling in their own right. We are so pleased with the caliber of the 20 new teams. They represent a passionate, dedicated group full of ideas,” Solar Decathlon director Richard King wrote on the competition blog.

UNLV’s “Team Las Vegas” has about a year and a half to perfect and fabricate its concept, module by module. While members come primarily from disciplines within architecture, engineering, business and communications, their ranks include an artist, an anthropologist, set and interior designers, a biologist, a historian and a welder. Their proposal states that this diversity, coupled with an innate appreciation for environmental challenges, will contribute to the team’s success in 2013.

Graduate student Alexia Hsin Chen, one of the student leads on the project, says community partnership is another key factor. Industry advisers are essential to transforming the renderings into realities, and they currently include Lucchesi Galati Architects, Marnell Architects, NV Energy, Bombard Renewable Energy, Helix Electric, Pulte Homes, GigaCrete Green Building Products, Southern Nevada Water District and the Las Vegas Water District.

Aided by all this expertise and that of distinguished faculty on the team, Chen and her fellow students will send a message about the accessibility of the home of the future.

“The point of the competition is to showcase what a house, just a simple residence, can be with all this different technology integrated,” Chen says, “show the public that solar panels can be integrated into architecture in an aesthetically pleasing way and perform wonderfully for you. … It’s very important to educate people about how much energy homes are using.”

Jane Cretty, a junior majoring in civil engineering, remembers learning about that very thing by watching the Solar Decathlon on TV. Also a student leader for Team Las Vegas, Cretty has been involved in UNLV’s effort to make the competition since she was a freshman.

“We really need to show people what we’re capable of,” she says. UNLV may not have the reputation of some of the other Solar Decathletes, but Cretty insists the programs her team represents are top notch. Autonomy House will demonstrate their collective skills and dedication at the Solar Decathlon. After that, the home may become a permanent office for a Vegas-based sustainability organization, or it might be installed somewhere on campus for further research and to inspire future students to keep innovating.

Thanks to her involvement in the project, Cretty is considering a master’s program at UNLV. The specific thrust of the Solar Decathlon may not play a significant role in her future work, but it has deeply affected the way she sees our constructed world.

“It definitely gives me a better outlook on how to be more economical and efficient,” she says. “That way you’re not wasting materials or using materials that are harmful to the environment—just being more conscious in general.”

Article source: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2012/feb/04/unlvs-solar-decathletes-are-rebels-cause/

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What if generating solar energy at home required little more than mixing some grass clippings with inexpensive chemicals? That’s exactly what MIT researcher Andreas Mershin has found to be the case. The scientist says creating a solar cell could be as easy as mixing any green organic material (grass clippings, agricultural waste) with a bag of custom chemicals and painting the mixture on a roof. Once the efficiency of Mershin’s system is improved, this type of solar technology could make cheap energy available in rural places and developing countries where people don’t have access to affordable energy. Read on to see a video of Mershin’s findings.

Here at Inhabitat, we’ve been following biophotovoltaics — devices that generate energy from photosynthesis — and although the possibilities are limitless, most of the existing technology is very expensive and a long way from reaching the market. In a study published in Scientific Reports, Mershin and his fellow researchers have come up with a process to “hijack” the PS-I molecules that are responsible for photosynthesis. As Mershin explains in this video, in order to get these molecules to work for us, we must extract the protein that’s at the center of photosynthesis and stabilize it so that it continues to live and operate in a solar panel.

Mershin and his team developed an intricate nanostructure of titanium dioxide supported by nanowires, which carry a flow of current. The system is able to convert just 0.1 percent of sun energy to electricity — over four orders of magnitude better than previous biophotovoltaic systems — but that percentage will need to be improved upon further before the technology can be useful. The breakthrough “carries the promise of inexpensive and environmentally friendly solar power,” according to the study, and Mershin hopes that within a few years someone in a remote village will be able to take some grass clippings, mix them with some chemicals, and paint them on the roof to produce power.

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Article source: http://www.deathrattlesports.com/archives/5097/mit-researchers-find-a-way-to-make-solar-panels-from-grass-clippings/

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Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Solar towers pepper the landscape at Convergence Energy solar farm near Delavan.

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

A bank of meters at the Convergence Energy solar farm near Delavan.

DELAVAN — It’s a familiar occurrence on Hazel Ridge Road north of Delavan.

Approaching vehicles slow as drivers take a closer look at what’s growing in the 14-acre field next to Dan Osborn’s wholesale nursery business.

Sure, last year’s field of sunflowers was impressive enough.

Now, in the dead of winter, all that’s left is nearly 100 solar tracking towers that are harvesting enough energy to power about 125 homes for a year.

The brainchild of Convergence Energy of Lake Geneva, the networked solar farm has taken shape in the last couple of years as a green-power investment for people who want to invest in solar energy but, for one reason or another, can’t at their home or business.

The farm, which is now complete, is a series of 33 individual, limited liability companies. Each totals about 80 solar panels on three tracking towers that rotate to follow the sun from east to west. That generates about 30 percent more power than a more conventional system affixed atop a roof.

“It’s kind of eerie if you’re here at night and you listen to these pivot back to their starting point,” said Steve Johnson, Convergence’s vice president of business development.

Each LLC produces up to 20 kilowatts of electricity, and the combined solar farm is the second-largest project in Wisconsin, trailing only the massive setup at Epic Systems’ corporate campus in Verona.

It is the first in the state, however, to allow individual investors.

One to three investors comprise each LLC, and the combined farm involves about 45 investors, Johnson said.

The first LLC went online in April 2010, while the last was finished just before Christmas 2011.

“We’re now totally closed to new investors,” Johnson said. “It was a combination of market demand, grants and incentives and the investors that led to this project.

“There seemed to be more interest toward the end of the cycle, and lots of folks were approaching us as we sold out.”

Convergence Energy is a full-service provider of solar energy products, primarily focusing on every aspect of design, construction and administration. Based on a similar solar garden in Colorado, the Delavan project received funding from the state’s Focus on Energy program, as well as money from the federal stimulus package.

At the farm, Convergence makes its money on the equipment and its installation. It became the first customer of Helios Solar Works, which opened last year in Milwaukee.

Depending on the specific investor agreement, the assets revert to Convergence at the end of either 11 or 20 years.

In the meantime, investors get quarterly checks for the power generated at the farm and sold to We Energies.

Johnson said individual investments ranged from $15,000 to $50,000, and investors can reasonably expect to recoup their investment in seven to 10 years. Beyond that, the quarterly checks are profit.

Convergence leases the land from Osborn, who previously worked with the company to install solar panels on one of his barns.

“Sometimes, you just throw dollars at the wind,” Osborn said. “But I’ve always believed things like this are the right things to do.

“Twenty-five years ago I built an envelope house, not because I wanted to cut my carbon footprint, but because I didn’t want to make the energy companies rich.”

Osborn and his family and friends now own five of the systems at the solar farm.

“I really believe in this type of thing,” he said. “I think these solar farms should be popping up all over creation.

“If We Energies wanted to do more of these, I would invest in every one of them until I ran out of money.”

Osborn said the incentives cut about a third off the cost of his investment. But, he said, he would have invested even without the incentives.

“It certainly hasn’t been an economic disaster,” he said. “It’s just the smart thing to do, more like a righteous type of thing that we should all be doing.”

Osborn and Johnson said the economics have changed in the last decade to the point that it makes more sense for those who want to go green with their energy.

In fact, the price of solar panels is now about one-third of what Osborn paid when he did his barn project.

“We now use less than 1 percent solar, and there’s no reason it couldn’t be 15 percent to 30 percent,” Johnson said. “With more education, people will learn that solar is not what it was years ago.

“The numbers just work better now, and the price of energy is going up.”

Article source: http://walworthcountytoday.com/news/2012/feb/04/power-people-solar-farm-helps-individual-investors/

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UNLV’s Solar Decathletes are creating the house of the future

Erin Ryan

Sat, Feb 4, 2012 (3:30 p.m.)

Imagine relaxing in a home that is completely self-sufficient and looks great to boot. UNLV is working on making this rendering a reality for the 2013 Solar Decathlon, an international competition that is all about sustainable design. Go Rebels.

At least one construction project is thriving in Las Vegas. It may only be 730 square feet, but it packs a punch.

Called “Autonomy House,” the proposed home was designed by students and professors at UNLV to be completely energy neutral—harnessing the desert sun for power, filtering rain and gray water for everyday use, and sequestering carbon in the landscaping. But sustainability isn’t the only draw. The home’s aesthetic reflects mod architectural trends, accessibility considerations and the Mojave’s spare beauty, and its potentially “zero-energy” performance means it would operate off the traditional public utility grid.

The proposal is so impressive it was selected among only 20 worldwide to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon. The competition has been driving green innovation at universities since 2002, and the fall showdown in Irvine, California, will have UNLV debuting against such juggernauts as Stanford and Cal Tech, not to mention international contenders from Austria, Canada and the Czech Republic.

“For 2013, we reviewed twice as many proposals as we could accept—and all were well written and compelling in their own right. We are so pleased with the caliber of the 20 new teams. They represent a passionate, dedicated group full of ideas,” Solar Decathlon director Richard King wrote on the competition blog.

UNLV’s “Team Las Vegas” has about a year and a half to perfect and fabricate its concept, module by module. While members come primarily from disciplines within architecture, engineering, business and communications, their ranks include an artist, an anthropologist, set and interior designers, a biologist, a historian and a welder. Their proposal states that this diversity, coupled with an innate appreciation for environmental challenges, will contribute to the team’s success in 2013.

Graduate student Alexia Hsin Chen, one of the student leads on the project, says community partnership is another key factor. Industry advisers are essential to transforming the renderings into realities, and they currently include Lucchesi Galati Architects, Marnell Architects, NV Energy, Bombard Renewable Energy, Helix Electric, Pulte Homes, GigaCrete Green Building Products, Southern Nevada Water District and the Las Vegas Water District.

Aided by all this expertise and that of distinguished faculty on the team, Chen and her fellow students will send a message about the accessibility of the home of the future.

“The point of the competition is to showcase what a house, just a simple residence, can be with all this different technology integrated,” Chen says, “show the public that solar panels can be integrated into architecture in an aesthetically pleasing way and perform wonderfully for you. … It’s very important to educate people about how much energy homes are using.”

Jane Cretty, a junior majoring in civil engineering, remembers learning about that very thing by watching the Solar Decathlon on TV. Also a student leader for Team Las Vegas, Cretty has been involved in UNLV’s effort to make the competition since she was a freshman.

“We really need to show people what we’re capable of,” she says. UNLV may not have the reputation of some of the other Solar Decathletes, but Cretty insists the programs her team represents are top notch. Autonomy House will demonstrate their collective skills and dedication at the Solar Decathlon. After that, the home may become a permanent office for a Vegas-based sustainability organization, or it might be installed somewhere on campus for further research and to inspire future students to keep innovating.

Thanks to her involvement in the project, Cretty is considering a master’s program at UNLV. The specific thrust of the Solar Decathlon may not play a significant role in her future work, but it has deeply affected the way she sees our constructed world.

“It definitely gives me a better outlook on how to be more economical and efficient,” she says. “That way you’re not wasting materials or using materials that are harmful to the environment—just being more conscious in general.”

Article source: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2012/feb/04/unlvs-solar-decathletes-are-rebels-cause/

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Even as the cost of home solar falls, the cost of conventional electricity continues to rise. The Energy Information Administration predicts that energy consumption will more than double by 2035 worldwide. Homeowners are starting to look at solar energy as protection against future price increases.

Fortunately, there are many solar options that will not only immediately reduce your monthly energy bills, but save you even more money over time. Here are five of the best.

For pricing on home solar power, click here.

1. Solar Water Heating Systems

Solar water heaters can cut your hot water costs by more than 50 percent. That kind of efficiency means that you’ll recoup the initial installation costs in around 5 years. Since the solar panels for these systems last 20 years or longer, you’ll enjoy many years of extra savings. A number of rebates and incentive programs can substantially reduce upfront costs as well. In fact, in many areas, there are more programs offered for solar hot water than there are for home photovoltaic (PV) systems.

2. Small Residential PV Systems

Even a few residential solar panels can make a significant impact in monthly electric bills, particularly if your utility company has a tiered-rate system. Utilities typically offer a base rate to cover basic electrical needs, but as your consumption increases, so do the rates. Many utilities increase rates further during peak-demand periods. The time of day when electricity is most in demand is usually in the afternoon, when solar panels are at their highest efficiency. As solar panels are modular, you always have the option to add more later.

3. Ground-Mounted (Backyard) Systems

If you’d like to go solar, but your home’s roof simply isn’t a good candidate for solar panels, consider a ground-mounted system. In the past, ground-mounted systems were considered more expensive, as they require extra equipment. But more and more solar contractors are offering ground-mounted systems that operate with GPS technology, enabling them to tilt towards the sun as it crosses the sky. This increased efficiency can offset the additional costs.

4. Solar Shingles

If you’re considering installing a new roof on your home, incorporating solar shingles into the design is another affordable way to work solar energy into your life. You’ll spend less than if you purchased a roof and a home PV system separately.

5. Solar Leases

Solar leases make it possible for just about any homeowner to enjoy lower electrical bills for little or no money down. The solar provider will install a system for you, maintain and insure it, and you just pay the provider for the electricity that the system produces at a locked-in rate, protecting you from rising energy costs.

Have You Gone Solar?

Have you made the switch to solar? What type of system did you go for, and why? Let me know in the comments!

Posted

on February 3rd in Going Solar by Feyth.

Article source: http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/going/5-simple-home-solar-power-options/

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But they remain just that, novelties. They cost too much to build, there’s virtually no market for them in the real world, or they’re just plain impractical or ugly.

But this is not always true. Take the Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon, for example.

This competition has been going on for a decade now. Every couple of years, the DOE chooses 20 teams from universities around the world and challenges them to build a zero-energy house. That’s a house that produces at least as much energy as it uses.

In the last competition, the cost and marketability of the house became a vital criteria. In other words, the thing had to be reasonably priced, and people would have to actually want to buy it.

This year, UNLV was notified that it was chosen to compete in the competition to be held in California next year.

That means the students and professors will spend the next year and a half of their lives trying to design, build and transport an actual house that does not use any more energy than it produces, would appeal to real people in the real world, and be affordable.

And they say they can do it.

The university has built an impressive team of students and faculty from architecture, engineering, business and communications.

“You can’t do good architecture in my opinion without good engineers. It just doesn’t happen,” said architecture professor Eric Weber, who is one of the project’s leaders.

To get into the contest, the team put together a brief proposal, which includes some preliminary design for the house.

The house will be small, 730 square feet, but it will use the small space carefully. It could be a vacation home, and it could exist pretty much anywhere in the Las Vegas Valley.

It would generate its own solar power and would capture rainwater and help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by sequestering it in its vegetation and soils.

The estimate is it would cost a bit over $300,000 to build. The goal is to get that down to $250,000. It will cost another $300,000-plus to transport it to California for the competition and back when it’s over.

“It’s a very long way away from an actual building,” Weber said.

Community support — which means mostly corporate donations — are expected to fund the bulk of the project. Indeed, showing that the program has a history of generous community support was one of the requirements in submitting plans to the contest.

Now that they’ve been accepted, the team will spend the next year getting deep into the design of the building. Most or all of the work will be integrated into the classroom, another vital criteria for the competition.

They will start building it in the spring of 2013.

Student Nathan Weber, who is not related to the professor, said learning about green technology not just in the classroom but by designing and building something that will use it is vital for today’s architecture students.

“It’s going to get more and more mainstream,” said Weber, a senior who is applying to graduate school.

It might be the case that the house the UNLV team designs and builds will, in fact, work as it’s supposed to. But it may also be the case that no one wants it. Yet.

The Toyota Prius did not take off until gas prices hit record highs. The same could happen here.

Alexia Chen, a graduate student, said she will stay with the program through the competition in the fall of 2013, though she’s scheduled to finish school a semester before that.

It’s that important to her. She wants to be an architect. She thinks what she learns by working on the project house will help her be a better one.

She sees the world changing, a paradigm shift that will have renewable energy at the forefront in the coming decades.

She said the house they’re going to finish designing and then build will fit into the local environment perfectly.

The house is being dubbed the Autonomy House for two reasons: First, it’s independent of the local power grid. But second, it’s also designed to house someone as they grow into old age. It’ll be wheelchair-friendly and easy to get around in.

Parts of the outside of the house — the parts facing the sun — will be surrounded with perforated screens that mimic the look of mesquite trees. These movable screens provide shade in the summer and can be opened up in the winter to allow the sun to shine on the house.

High windows provide natural light inside the house, outdoor ponds provide evaporative cooling in the summer, and water heated by the sun will provide heat in the winter. Solar hot water panels will provide all the hot water in the house.

Students already have built small pieces of the house, mostly to show that they could do it. They’ve build part of the outdoor screens, part of a fold-away kitchen table.

“A good architect,” said Weber, the professor, “is one who really understands the process of actually building things.”

The team has put large printouts of their initial design on the walls in the architecture lab, to inspire them.

Weber said the houses he’s seen in previous Solar Decathlon competitions were so good, any professional architect would be proud to have been involved.

He thinks UNLV’s house will be that good, too.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal. com or 702-383-0307.

Article source: http://www.lvrj.com/news/unlv-team-to-design-house-for-solar-contest-138702234.html

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