UPDATE 2 – ECHO House prepped for Solar Decathlon start
Posted on Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013
With the start of the Solar Decathlon on October 3rd students and faculty from Team ECHO worked feverishly to complete the reconstruction of the ECHO house. Below is an update from the competition site provided by Rick Briginshaw.
“Hi Everyone,
It has been extremely busy here over the last three days, as we worked toward the completion deadline of today (Oct. 1st) at noon. Very glad to report that we completed our construction on time, passed all of our inspections, systems are working, and the house looks great!
Sept. 28 – Construction of our exterior decking, installation of the PV panels, solar thermal panels, and roofing.
Sept. 29 – Received our first allotment of water, charged up the water and electrical systems, both passed inspections. The PV array was producing 6 kwh in the late afternoon, and had produced about 90 kw through the day. More work on exterior decking, ramps and railings. Interior painting, and starting to set up furniture in the bedrooms. Work was done on thecontrol hardware and software for the mechanical and electrical systems.
Sept. 30 – Big push to complete as much as possible today, with the deadline looming the next day at noon. Everyone worked until the 2:00 a.m. cutoff. Window glass finally arrived after an error by the supplier, and was installed. Finishing of ramps and railings, enclosing the water tanks to improve appearance, landscaping, more interior painting, setting up furniture in the main living area, fine tuning the control system and wireless application. Final testing of systems.
Oct. 1 – Finishing various odds and ends, and complete cleanup of the site.
The students have all done an amazing job and should be proud of their accomplishment. At any given time we had up to 20 students of various backgrounds working side by side – college and university alike.
Thanks also go out to professor Andy Nita, who spent several days working with the students on the electrical system; professor Greg Kenny, who provided construction expertise for three solid days; and professors Mark Bell and Lachlan Oddie, who arrived late Sunday were a big help with the final push at the end.
Looking ahead, tomorrow is media preview day and opening reception. The site officially opens to the public on Thursday, Oct. 3rd.”
Congratulations to TEAM ECHO and good luck at the competition!
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