Germany Takes the Gold at This Year's Solar Decathlon

October 16th, 2009 by Beth Graddon-Hodgson

This year’s Solar Decathlon at the National Mall has come to a close, and the winner has been crowned! Germany, for the second year in a row, has taken the gold for it’s Net Zero, solar powered home after a week long competition that brought many innovative ideas to light.

This victory was well-deserved, since the German team managed to create a solar powered home with the ability to produce more than twice the amount of energy that it actually uses. It’s a SurPlusHome covered in solar panels in a dark metallic color that surround the cube-shaped home and it has a total energy capacity of 11.1 KW.

The German team’s home had a modern and functional layout designed for optimal energy efficiency. The home is divided into zones rather than separated by walls, louver covered windows, and a boiler system with a heat pump to provide heat and hot water to the home. The outside of the home itself gets its unique look (and its energy) from single-crystal silicon panels on the roof and thin-film copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) panels on the sides of the home.

Germany competed in the Solar Decathlon against 20 other teams from around the world including two US teams that placed second and third in the competition for their unique eco-friendly designs.

Via: Inhabitat