Penn State and AE to Participate in Solar Decathlon
An interdisciplinary team of students and faculty assembled through Penn State's Center for Sustainability has gained acceptance into the 2007 Solar Decathlon, an international collegiate competition in solar design sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, in which student teams design and build a solar-powered home. Dr. David Riley, executive director of the Center for Sustainability and AE associate professor, will lead the team. The goal of the Solar Decathlon is to advance the use of solar energy, especially building-integrated photovoltaics that generate electricity from sunlight.
Participation in the Solar Decathlon is an honor and a challenge, as it is one of the most prestigious international collegiate competitions in solar design. Penn State will compete against 20 university teams from around the world, including MIT, Cornell, the University of Texas, Carnegie Mellon and the two-time winner of previous competitions, the University of Colorado. 
Andy Lau and David Riley stand in front of the Powerlion, a portable solar power array.
In addition to Riley, the team leaders will be Andy Lau, associate professor of engineering design; Scott Wing, associate professor of architecture; and Lisa Iulo, assistant professor of architecture. Many departments and research programs will have a hand in the final design. These include the departments of architecture, architectural engineering, kinesiology and physics, and research programs the Energy Institute, the Center for Space Research, the Applied Research Lab, and the Hybrid and Hydrogen Vehicle Research Center.
Each team will be awarded $100,000 over two years from the Department of Energy. Matching funds have also been provided by the Raymond A. Bowers Program for Excellence in Design and Construction of the Built Environment, which is housed in the AE department. Additional sponsors and contributions will be sought to support the Penn State entry. When completed, the home will be assembled on the National Mall in Washington, DC, for the two-week solar decathlon competition. At the conclusion of the event, the solar home will be returned to the Penn State campus for use as an experimental student residence and laboratory at the Center for Sustainability's 8.5 acre site of Porter Road.
The Penn State concept, named the Morning Star, will blend advanced energy technologies with environmentally friendly green building materials. The design will also draw upon a partnership between AE and the American Indian Housing Initiative, also led by Riley, in which AE works with a Northern Cheyenne tribe to implement alternative housing solutions for American Indian tribes, including a popular course in which students travel to the Northern Cheyenne reservation each summer to construct homes and community facilities they have designed.
The Morning Star coordinators plan to involve as many students as possible in the event beginning with a Green Design Competition in which students will have the opportunity to submit design ideas in categories of architecture, engineering, graphic design and web design.
More information about the design competition and the solar decathlon can be found on the Center for Sustainability web site at www.engr.psu.edu/cfs.