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All overseas teams that have competed in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon have shipped their house sections in an international shipping container or made their house section the same size as one. This is very convenient because handling, lifting, and moving an international shipping container is relatively easy and no extra paperwork is required for transport on public roads.
Imagine having to work all day and night outside in cold rain. The Solar Decathlon Europe 2010 competitors are working in these conditions on the third day of assembly. With rain forecast through Sunday, the teams will have to get used to constructing their houses in the rain. But most would prefer the rain now than during the competition, when they’ll need sunshine to power their houses.
With big trucks rolling onto the Villa Solar throughout the night, the Solar Decathlon Europe competition site is quickly taking shape. Many team sites contain houses that are already half built. Others are still nearly empty lots. The Tianjin and Helsinki houses are currently stuck in cargo containers in the port of Valencia, Spain, which is experiencing a strike. Solar Decathlon Europe organizers are working with Spanish government officials to get the containers released. In the meantime, these teams wait and watch their competitors hard at work.
About 200 decathletes and organizers gathered in Madrid today to kick off Solar Decathlon Europe 2010. Unfortunately, the international economic crisis has hit Solar Decathlon Europe hard, and three of the original 20 teams (Valencia, Mexico, and Brazil) had to drop out of the competition. Following team registration and a welcome meeting, the 17 remaining teams rushed off to begin construction.
Virginia Tech’s U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2009 entry, Lumenhaus, traveled to New York’s Times Square this week, where it wowed passersby and wooed audiences on ABC's “Good Morning America.”
Watch a video clip of “Good Morning America” weather anchor Sam Champion interviewing Virginia Tech team member Chip Clark, or see additional photos of Lumenhaus in Times Square on Flickr.
The next stop on the house’s tour will be Madrid, Spain, to compete in Solar Decathlon Europe this June.
