What’s “green,” runs on solar power, and involves over 250 students and over 20 faculty? It’s the U of I's solar house which will compete in the 2007 Solar Decathlon.

For the first time ever, Illinois is one of 20 schools worldwide to be competing in the Solar Decathlon, an intercollegiate solar house competition taking place in October 2007. This competition, sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), will be held at the National Mall in Washington D.C.

“We have a real mix of both architects and engineers, which gives us strength,” said Ty Newell, an assistant dean of engineering and professor in mechanical science and engineering. "This interdisciplinary project has brought together students and faculty in architecture, engineering, industrial design, and other fields of study such as landscaping. The competitors will be judged on everything from architecture and engineering to aesthetics, renewable material usage, and market viability."

Newell submitted a proposal to include U of I in the 2007 competition to the DOE in November 2005. With the help of David Schajbel, associate vice chancellor and director of continuing education, and Bill Sullivan, director of the Environmental Council, Newell, and other faculty sponsors secured a place for Illinois among a select few competitors.

As a student project, the design teams are led by graduate and PhD students and guided by two dozen core faculty members whose overall goals include integration of the sustainable energy, environment, and economic efficiency. The house needs to be efficient within the 10 different areas of evaluation within the Solar Decathlon competition.

Overall, the design team is aiming to create a smooth transition between the outdoors and indoors.

"If you were to follow the ceiling and flooring through the house, you would notice that they continue from outside the entrance to past the deck in back," Newell added.

The house--built in three modules and attached together--will be using familiar components in new ways. For example, instead of the typical heater and ventilation system, this house will be using heat exchanging panels, like what you would find on the back of your refrigerator. These will be suspended from the ceiling.

Having many large windows in the house can create difficulty in regulating the temperature of the house between 74 and 76 degrees F, so the house will have thin vertical and horizontal windows placed strategically near workspaces for day lighting.

The height of the house is limited to 18 feet, so as not to block neighbors’ access to sunlight. Any shadow on a solar panel will stop its activity. Therefore, each team needs to be prepared for cloudy conditions and must have enough energy stored within a battery system to successfully operate the house’s components and charge a solar-powered car.

The modular house is being built within a warehouse on the southwest end of campus. Planners are hoping to complete construction by Engineering Open House on March 9. The team leaders think their advantage over other schools will be the early building schedule and months of time for testing the various components, from the solar cells to appliances and the transport system.

This summer, the completed house will be dismantled, transported to Washington D.C., and reassembled there by a student team. The “solar village” of houses will be open for public tours. Following the competition, the U of I entry will make a statewide tour of Illinois and return to the Urbana-Champaign campus to serve as a learning lab for future Solar Decathletes.