Solar pipedreamers and schemers are learning that when it rains, it pours. First it was physics and economics; then Solyndra and now it’s a rainy weekend in Washington DC for the Department of Energy’s Solar Decathalon. The Weekly Standard has the story. Don’t hurt yourself laughing.
How many Kilowatts? Kilowatts?? Surely you jest, and rather crudely too!
My 2650 sq ft house cost about 1/3 of this house. For the remaining $300K, I could heat, cool, and otherwise power my house for 125+ years.
With the “cheaper” mass-market house, I could run my house for 45+ years.
I would love to read that Al Gore had completely lost his mind and was actually enjoying living in one of these little golden (tax-payer-money) boxes.
He would need to lose a few pounds to get through the front door. Payback is due and overdue.
Something ain:t right in Denmark….I have a 1800 sq. ft house in Northern Arizona….off the grid and 100% solar. Heavy loads are propane, i.e., cooking, hot water and heating. Not rocket science and not for 500k…total investment @ 18k.These CCNY students appear to be in training for a future political office for the seem to spend like them
Is that you?
My point exactly
I hate to say it, but it’s embarrassing how few people can calculate a rate of return. Even with Engineering interns in their Junior and Senior years, their eyes glass over with simple financing. The best of them can do a simple cost balance, but they don’t understand the time value of money.
So they built some cracker box ugly living spaces. Covered the roof with solar panels, and are waiting for some sunshine. All old technology. Maybe they have some efficient insulation. Big deal!
Built in snow country, the solar panels, and the roof would be laying on the floor. I would like to see the solar regulator, and battery bank if they bothered to install them. Where’s the back up gas/diesel generator? Ain’t grants wonderful!
Buckminster Fuller was doing better work in the 1940’s with much lower tech.
What is really scary is we have “college” students doing expensive projects that can’t answer simple cost/benefit questions (which were the points of the projects). This is like the science fair students whose parents do all the work and the kid is just a hand puppet for Daddy. Except us taxpayers are paying millions for it. Yes, it is gag-making.
Steven Chu is not an idiot, right? Right?
What about the oil spill in the gulf?
It sure wasn’t that bad as scientists declared?
What is the point of this event? Perhaps it’s because it’s 2:30 in the morning and I’ve had far more coffee than the average person drinks in a week, but I cannot think of a single valid use for this competition.
The tactics
1: Make the house as efficient as physically possible
2: Stack as many of the best solar panels on top as you can afford
Not exactly rocket science here.
The results are stupid. No one that can afford a tenth of the price of these monstrosities lives in a house that small. If you do live somewhere that small, its an apartment stacked 5-30 stories high, so your panels need to supply huge excess of power (obviously impossible).
Just what do they think would happen in winter in northern Minnisota? Hahaha.
They should have held the event in Texas. It could have ended the drought.
This sounds like the solar-hyping version of the Gore Effect! Set up a solar energy hyping event; bring on the rain!
650-750 square feet? For heaven’s sake, a singlewide is bigger than that! What a fine vision for the future of America — childless couples in Katrina cubicles.
Hey, there’s another lesson for the CCNY students: if they put wheels on it, maybe they could escape “New York’s strict codes” with it.