Solar House Team

The future is now when it comes to changing your current windows for an energy efficient window and an energy producing one at that. Simply adding a certain flexible film to your current window can result in a big change. A window that helps trap the sunlight in the winter to help heat your home and help cool your home during the summer. A concept that is epic and undeniably simple. Not only by opening and closing the window to control airflow but by the window simply standing there. Here is a lecture that is about 12 minutes long but really intriguing. Justin Hall gives a speech that will want you to take action with the beginning image of an iceberg breaking apart and an image of a girl dyeing of thirst in the end because of our current methods of energy production and usage. He is telling us about a solution that scientist from around the world have been working on. He talks about the concept of how to master carbon and have it react with graphite to make an almost supernatural window. Graphite is blasted by a vapor that helps change the form of carbon to be more conductive than copper. Carbon at a nano scale is also conveniently transparent. You can affix this to your window with a polymer to help repel heat or attract it. In addition to this the technology can generate energy in a clean and cheap manner at a microscopic scale. This easy manner is taking two nano materials with a detector and an imager in between. This material takes inferred at night and converts it to an electron. Store this electron, release it and you have energy. Hold this electron in a tank to store it. If you don't need it you can beam it across to your neighbor. Thus the end of a power grid and a big welcome for free energy. All future energy can be beamed from one energy efficient window to another. All in all, sun light in the day and inferred at night combine on one window to be a source of clean power that we all need.

The 2009 house was in storage over the winter and suffered some damage due to weathering. The basement was poured for the house and it was moved to its final location as the last addition to the Solar Village. The interior floor was replaced, the solar thermal system and home automation systems were fixed, and the interior was repainted. In addition, the thermostat, heat pump, and electrical systems were all given a tune-up to make sure everything was running smoothly.  

As far as the Village exteriors, concrete was poured for the sidewalks connecting the houses. The grass and sprinkler systems were installed and all the houses were nicely landscaped with local plants. We even got a brand new sign to signify the Village as a part of the University and to make sure everyone knows what is is.

Now the Village is up and running with new tenants and a new place at the University. A variety of groups go on tours, professors conduct research, and the residents installed composting bins and a green house. Anyone who remembers the local "eye-sore" of the 2007 house water damage is sure to be amazed at the transformations that have occurred in the Missouri S&T Solar Village.

-Anna Osborne

Director of Public Relations

What could be better than the power and convenience of solar energy? As long as the sun keeps rising up off our horizon, we should have more than enough energy to absorb and use, right? Well, that may be true for most days, but not all. Because of this inconsistency in daylight, solar energy has been viewed as "unreliable," and therefore not good enough for our ever-growing appetite for power. But that may change thanks to civil engineer Mike Strizki. When posed the issue of unreliable solar power, he turned to another green technology to compensate: hydrogen fuel cells.

Passive solar technologies have been used to regulate temperatures since the days of early man. In the past, these techniques were used out of necessity due to the lack of current technology. Now, passive solar designs are environmentally friendly and cost effective solutions to modern heating, cooling, and lighting techniques.

Tired of paying for the upkeep and supplies for your gas or charcoal grill? Now you have the option to never have to buy fuel for your grill again --the solar cookers are here. A solar cooker can do anything that a typical gas or charcoal grill can, but being more cost effective and efficient at the same time.

The cooker could be used for sterilizing water on a camping trip to doing a great job at cooking food in your backyard bbq.  There are various models out there that don't cost that much. There are even tips that are easy to follow in making your own.  All you would need is some foil and card board.

SOLAR BAKED POTATOES

Inside a dark, covered pot place 2 or three medium size, whole potatoes- any type. No need to preheat the oven. Let them bake all day in a slow oven of about 250 degrees F. Here is where you can set the oven due south and just leave it alone while you are studying! When you come home you will have the most flavorful potatoes you have ever tasted! Garnish them however you prefer or just eat them plain. I often store these in the refrigerator to be used in other solar recipes, like the next one!

SCALLOPED POTATOES del SOL
Slice a couple of those SOLAR BAKED POTATOES and place them into a dark pot. Drizzle the potatoes with olive oil, add a 1/2 cup of milk, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and a generous amount of Parmesan cheese. Mix briefly, then cover and place into a preheated  solar oven and bake until hot- about an hour or so. Real easy- REAL GOOD!

Ideas to make your own cooker: http://solarcooking.org/plans/

Or buy one: http://www.solarovens.org/


-Julie Glenn
Solar House Team Member

Some interesting things for us to think about are how we can use solar panels in everything we do.  There are constant developments exploring other uses of solar energy besides residential applications. The use of solar panels could expand to use on boats. Just think of all the possibilities to use maybe on houseboats to speed boats and barges! Right now there are studies on how to use solar panels in a way that also functions as sails on large ocean carriers. I think that is brilliant because not only are we reducing the amount of energy to push an ocean liner along but supplying energy to the rest of the boat for various things. Be sure to check this article out! It gives a little more information about this topic. Then while you are there check the rest of this site out. There are all kinds of tid-bits to read regarding being more environment friendly and this site also gives you the option to follow various government legislation and provides the chance to sign a petition or two.  http://www.care2.com/causes/solar-panels-act-as-sails-for-shipping-vessels-2.html   

So what's it like to live in a Solar Village? I for one am having a fantastic experience. My name is Anna Osborne and I'm the Director of Public Relations for the Missouri S&T Solar House Team. Thanks to the Office of Sustainable Energy & Environmental Engagement (OSE3) I get to live in the 2005 solar house this semester. The other two houses are occupied by David George (Project Manager for the Solar House Team) and the Oerther family (Dr. Oerther- professor of Environmental Engineering at S&T). 

It's summertime in the Solar Village and the place is crawling with activity. Ben, Director of Design and Construction for the Solar House Team, caught a glimpse of these cute, fluffy creatures running around the grounds- where could they have come from?! 

Dan and Sarah Oerther, of course! They have been living in the village since January of this year, and have taken steps to be more sustainable in their every day lives. This includes getting eggs right from their back yard. In a typical factory farm, chickens receive less than one square foot of space each. Based on the size of the Solar Village grounds, these happy hens are allowed to roam in over 11,000 square feet of grass, giving each chicken about 3,500 square feet of space. You can't get anymore free range than that! They are also friendly enough for the Oerther's 10-month old boy, Barney, to crawl around in the grass next to them. The hens produce plenty of free-range, cage-free eggs to feed the family and other Solar Village residents, such as myself.

Let me take you back to just after the 2009 competition: Finals are coming up, and then it's winter break! Not only that, but the RFP is out for the 2011 competition and we are focusing our energy on producing a competitive entry. After the report is complete and submitted, we are notified that a 3D model and a display board describing our concept are also required. In the mean time, the house foundation is not yet completed, and the home sits in storage. The foundation is completed, and the house is moved to its home in the Solar Village on S&T's campus during the summer of 2010. A few team members are hired to work with Physical Facilities to get the village up and running- a lot important projects are finished that summer. Over the next school year we focus on training new team members and working on a plan for the 2013 proposal. Many students perfect their practical skills by working on getting the automation system and photovoltaic panels up and running throughout the school year while staying on top of other team projects and submittals. However, all of the houses systems are still not running.