Team Tidewater Makes the Front page in the Virginian-Pilot

For many Team Tidewater members, this morning was spent flipping through the day's edition of The Virginian-Pilot--the leading newspaper of Hampton Roads. The front page headline read, "Solar-design contest leads to teamwork by unlikely alliance."

Pilot journalist Scott Harper wrote a generous feature story about our role in the Solar Decathlon 2011 and the overall relationship we've formed between Hampton University architecture students and Old Dominion University engineering students, introducing readers to some of the key members of our team.

Read the article for yourself here!

Using Power, Spending Money. Making Power, Making Money.

Read the article here.

According to an article in The Huffington Post, Solar homeowners in Tennessee are able to sell their leftover energy to the local power distributors. Some of the homeowners sell leftover energy for more than double what the energy company charges for power!

This program has become increasingly popular among Tennessee residents.

The concept of Team Tidewater's Unit 6 Solar home is much like many of these money making homes. As a net-zero solar house, it draws power from the grid when necessary, while generating its own power completely.  It is also able to give some back. It is this balance of give and take, that after a year the home's power use will be net zero.

A half scale model of the Unit 6, Team Tidewater's home design for
the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011.

It is widely agreed that sustainability is important.  Though change can be difficult for some, adjustments of previous comfort zones are necessary to realize such an idea. Okay, so how do we do it? How can we be sustainable without killing ourselves economically? 

These homes in Tennessee replace a portion of the power company's business. That's one point for sustainability. It's great that more and more of our population are generating clean, renewable energy--slowly decreasing our footprint on the planet. But what sort of economical effect does this have? Does this change in business affect companies such as the Nashville Electric Service? Originally a company that drew in energy from coal, NES now uses at least some power that is provided by various solar homes in the community. In a changing world, one that seems fixed on reducing its consumption of non-renewable resources, should we leave the business of coal behind? Or is it important that we allow the business--the business of power--to change with us?

Come See Us at the Product Show!

Team Tidewater Virginia will be displaying their design at the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Product Show this Tuesday in Virginia Beach.

Team Project Manager John Whitelaw at the
International Builders' Show in Orlando last month.

Hosted by the Tidewater branch of CSI, The Product show is a venue that showcases innovations in construction products and methods. It will be held at the Holiday Inn Executive Center from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Come visit Team Tidewater's booth as we talk about the design for our solar home, the Unit 6, that will be featured in the Solar Decathlon 2011 this September and October.

For more information on the Construction Specifications Institute, visit their website at www.csinet.org.

These Solar Homes Need a Home

The U.S. Department of Energy announced in January that the Solar Decathlon 2011 will no longer be on the National Mall in Washington D.C. The DOE broke the news while all twenty teams were together at the International Builders' Show in Orlando.

As part their exhibit at the International Builders' Show, the twenty
Solar Decathlon 2011 teams showcased half scale models of their designs.

While no alternative has been decided yet, officials are working to find a new venue for the competition. The DOE said in its announcement that the condition of the National Mall has suffered from past Solar Decathlons.

Many of the 2011 decathletes are disappointed because much of their design has been catered toward their plans to showcase their houses on the National Mall for three weeks. The effectiveness of each of the houses' photovoltaics depend on how well they are able to capture the sun's rays. A different venue would have different conditions (in terms of sunlight) that the outcome of the competition could be drastically affected.

Additionally, some are concerned about how this decision will affect each team's sponsorship. The prestige of the National Mall is a big selling point when describing the competition to the public and especially potential sponsors. For those who aren't familiar with the competition, many don't realize the significance of the Solar Decathlon until it's said that the twenty houses will be displayed on the National Mall for three weeks. It is a high-profile location that carries a lot of traffic, and some sponsors have decided to contribute to the project for that very reason. 

Decathletes and their supporters are currently working together to reverse the decision and return the Solar Decathlon 2011 to the National Mall.  If you wish to learn more and get involved, read and sign the petition here.

Unit 6 New Model Pictured in USA Today

USA Today's Wendy Koch featured a story about the decision to move the Solar Decathlon 2011 away from the National Mall in Washington D.C.

A picture of the Unit 6 model is displayed at the top of the article.

USA Today- Solar Decathlon Bumped from National Mall

Also shown are the models of teams New Zealand, Canada and Hawaii.

Constructing a New Model

Gene Corbell, an architect and model-builder with Anvil Prototype & Design, spoke with Team Tidewater about designing and constructing their Unit 6 Unplugged model.

As required for the competition, our team must build a half scale model that (among other things) will be featured at the International Builders Show in Orlando, Florida in January. Team Tidewater's only physical model (and most current) is one that helped get its project accepted into the Department of Energy Solar Decathlon in the first place. The students have since made many changes to their design and need to produce a larger model that will illustrate in more detail the features of their house.

Original Model of Unit 6 Unplugged

Part of the dilemma for Team Tidewater is deciding how much of the house's details will be showcased. Ideally, the team would like for the model to display certain engineering features, such as its greywater system, in addition to the overall architecture of the house.

Corbell suggested making some parts of the walls clear so that viewers may see piping underneath. In addition to this, he recommended that the team be able to remove the roof in order to make the house more displayable.

"People generally don't bend down to look through the windows. They like to stand overhead and look down," said Corbell.

The construction of the model could cost as much as $500 in materials alone, according to Corbell. It is a big, meticulous project that will be prone to things-gone-wrong and may take several weeks to complete.

"Whatever amount of hours you think it'll take," said Corbell, "plan to add about 20%."

Daunting as it is, the model's construction is just another one of the many pieces of the Solar Decathlon project that the team must work through.

Cox Communications Give Back

Cox Communications awarded a $1000 grant to Old Dominion University's and Hampton University's 2011 Solar Decathlon team, Team Tidewater Virginia, Saturday afternoon as part of their wireless celebration.

The grant is one of many ways in which Cox has given back to the community, and the money will go toward the $600,000 it will take to fund Team Tidewater's overall costs, including construction, marketing, and transportation.

The celebration took place at Cox's Hampton Solutions Store in the Peninsula Town Center. The store was crowded with eager people who came to check out Cox's wireless services and to be a part of the celebration.

We would like to thank everyone at Cox Communications for helping to continue our project and for inviting us to be a part of the event.