UF had a successful outing at its first-ever Solar Decathlon.
A group of about 40 students traveled to Madrid, Spain, for a 10-day competition against 17 other universities to build a house that utilized solar energy.
UF’s house finished first in online fan voting. Its communications team, which took on promoting the event and informing people about the university’s house, was also ranked first. UF finished second in the energy balance category, which measures how much energy a house creates against how much it consumes.
The team’s overall efforts ranked eighth in official judging. Virginia Tech, the only other American university to compete, finished first.
The house cost the Florida team $500,000 to build, not including the price paid for shipping the house from Gainesville to Madrid, said Kathryn Watson, a member of UF’s communications team.
“Our house was built with the idea that we want to make sure that this is something that’s viable for the average consumer,” Watson said.
The price was cheap compared to other universities’ houses, some of which cost more than $1 million to build, she said.
The house was first constructed in Gainesville so that those involved in the project could become acquainted with how to build it before the actual competition.
The house was then disassembled and shipped to Madrid so it could be quickly re-assembled in less than 10 days.
Solar Decathlons were started by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2002 to help raise awareness for the uses of solar energy. Since 2005, they have been held biennially.
This year’s event in Madrid was the first to be held internationally.
The next Solar Decathlon is scheduled for 2012.
