Beausoleil Solar Home

[tjubb]

_ We were in the top 4 at one point. How/why did we fall to #19? _

Lost points in Hot Water and Net Metering. While they did have running hot water that was up to temp (110 I think) they were unable to fill 15 gallons in 10 minutes or less. The Net Metering measures their energy consumption for the duration of the competition. If they produce more energy than they consume they get bonus points. Not sure the exact cause for using more power than what was generated though. Would love to know why as well. Even if they had broke even in the Net Metering and gained just a few points, they would have finished a bit higher in the standings.

People's Choice and Market Viability awards are pretty big though. That says people like your design and would do well on the open market, which is ultimately what this competition strives to accomplish.

[cajungirl23]

The full standings are available on www.solardecathlon.org. We should be incredibly proud of what our students accomplished. BTW, our name on the back of the Decathlon shirts: Univ. of Louisiana.

[tjubb]

check out the progress of the disassembly:
http://oxblue.com/pro/open/solardecathlon/cam123/

Click on Cam#3 and you can zoom in pretty close. BeauSoliel House is the closest to the camera in the lower right corner.

[ZoomZoom]

Beau Soleil house. It's in bad shape

And let us not forget who brought us this design and Fletcher. Never toot your own horn in the driveway.

[axg8750]

And let us not forget who brought us this design and Fletcher. Never toot your own horn in the driveway.

?

[ZoomZoom]

?

Our own architectural department. They were involved in both eyesores.

The B S house was a great idea with a design nobody could afford. I’m of the mantra until alternative designs/systems of energy efficiency is affordable and desirable to the population whose budget is impacted greatly by energy (low/mod income), it’s all pie in the sky.

Much like the HFH home built in Truman around the time the BS house was built. I asked what happens when one of the systems break or needs maintenance…what if owner cannot afford repairs. The answer was “if not repaired it becomes inactive and reverts to conventional systems”.

But everyone involved in the build felt great. SMH

[axg8750]

Our own architectural department. They were involved in both eyesores.

The B S house was a great idea with a design nobody could afford. I’m of the mantra until alternative designs/systems of energy efficiency is affordable and desirable to the population whose budget is impacted greatly by energy (low/mod income), it’s all pie in the sky.

Much like the HFH home built in Truman around the time the BS house was built. I asked what happens when one of the systems break or needs maintenance…what if owner cannot afford repairs. The answer was “if not repaired it becomes inactive and reverts to conventional systems”.

But everyone involved in the build felt great. SMH

I agree it was not a sustainable model at the time but if there were not investments into solar energy 10 years ago when BS house was designed then how would we have continued to advance the technology to a point that will one day be affordable?

[CajunVic]

I agree it was not a sustainable model at the time but if there were not investments into solar energy 10 years ago when BS house was designed then how would we have continued to advance the technology to a point that will one day be affordable?

It will never be affordable or reliable.

[axg8750]

It will never be affordable.

And we will never have computers that fit in our pockets with more technology than the first space ships.

P.S. I feed my family from a job in the O&G industry.

[60swerethebest]

It will never be affordable or reliable.

I can understand your feelings but you should spend a little time with two of our Engr profs. Zappi and Chambers. Once battery storage is solved, economics work. Not tomorrow but not never. And I’m not selling my natural gas stocks either. Coal, not so much.