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Cal Poly at U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, Oct. 8-18
Nov 5, 2015
Cal Poly is participating in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, Oct. 8-18, at Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif. Cal Poly’s team, Solar Cal Poly, is among 14 teams from universities across the country and around the world who have been engaged in a nearly two-year process of building a solar-powered house that is affordable, innovative and highly energy efficient.
Solar Cal Poly is an interdisciplinary mix of architecture, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, construction management, landscape architecture, graphic communications, marketing and business students. As part of the Solar Decathlon, the team will compete in 10 different contests – ranging from architecture and engineering to home appliance performance – while gaining valuable hands-on experience.
Civil engineering major Erik Pinuelas is the student construction manager for the project. "Designing a home of the future is inspirational," he said . "My role hasn't been so much the design itself as assisting to integrate and implement the design input. There were at least 50 very different models and concepts to choose from."
Other Cal Poly Engineering participants include electrical engineering majors Casey Smith and Jenna Denhaan and electrical engineering faculty advisor Dale Dolan; computer science majors Dante Tim Ambrose and Andrew Elliott and computer science faculty advisor John Clements; and mechanical engineering faculty advisor Kim Shollenberger.
The Solar Decathlon educates students and the public about the money-saving opportunities and environmental benefits presented by clean-energy products and design solutions; demonstrates to the public the comfort and affordability of homes that combine energy-efficient construction and appliances with renewable energy systems available today; and provides participating students with unique training that prepares them to enter our nation's clean-energy workforce.
The current Solar Decathlon 2015 team roster is:
- California Polytechnic State University
- California State University, Sacramento
- Clemson University
- Crowder College and Drury University
- Missouri University of Science and Technology
- New York City College of Technology
- State University of New York at Alfred College of Technology and Alfred University
- Stevens Institute of Technology
- The University of Texas at Austin and Technische Universitaet Muenchen
- University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
- University of California, Davis
- University of California, Irvine; Saddleback College; Chapman University; and Irvine Valley College
- West Virginia University and University of Roma Tor Vergata
- Western New England University, Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, and Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana
Read more at http://calpolysolardecathlon.org/.