During the 2005 Solar Decathlon it seemed that as soon as the event started, so did the rains. Frequent wet weather had a big impact on both the visitor tally and each homes' power generation, and this year may produce more of the same challenges. Predictions for D.C. are partly cloudy today, and clouds and rain for the home stretch of the contest; the same temps and precip that has plagued Missouri for much of the past week.
What used to be called the energy balance portion of the contest is now listed as net metering. Whatever you call it, it is simply banking excess energy in batteries ('02, '05, and '07) or for the '09 homes, sending it back to the grid for others to use. Scoring for this event won't be known until the end of the event when the faux grid established on the National Mall spits out each house's production vs. usage figures over the 10-day event.
No report from the team last night, but we imagine they are banking their physical energy for the weekend's huge crowds, and the frenetic tear-down process that will start late Sunday afternoon.
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