While other S&T design teams have been racing cars, launching missiles, and paddling concrete canoes, the Miners' Solar House Team has been quietly designing, financing and building the largest design project of all, a 100% solar-powered house for the Solar Decathlon now getting under way in Washington, DC. We know that some wag has called the Solar Decathlon the "world's biggest, slowest solar car race," but this solar event has a lot of practical applications that can help society right now.
Calling this team "S&T's" is not the whole story, because the Rolla students have enlisted help from Mizzou's architectural design program in an attempt to bolster the team's previous aesthetics scores. The combined program, known as "Show-Me Solar" referring to Missouri's state slogan, has the Miners leading engineering, logistics and construction, and the Tigers assisting with architecture, presentation and financing.
This post will have to serve as a quick three-stage pictorial review of the team's construction work from laying the foundation to arriving in DC. We'll have more stories and photos from the National Mall in days to come, so starting last March, here we go:
Stage #1 - Building the house: This team quietly went about the business of building a house. Steady progress, very little drama, great attitudes and consistent, low-key dedication. The occasional setback (like high-centering their equipment trailer) didn't rattle them.
Stage #2 - Disassembly and shipping: Now this was a challenge! The crew lost valuable time when the roof crane didn't show up, and when it did the lifting points ripped out of the house. A 24-hour delay for re-design and they were back in business, but then the rains came and the site became a quagmire. Nevertheless the house was slid out onto State Street without incident. The last issue was the local overhead wires were too low to drive under. Not sure how they handled that one, but the traffic lights at 10th Street were still working the next day.
And lastly, Stage #3, setting the house up in DC: At dawn of the first construction day only Show-Me Solar and Virginia Tech had their house structures complete; most other homes were just footings and foundations. There is still a huge amount of work to do, repairing travel damage, installing the massive deck, getting the heating system in order and finishing out a myriad of details before technical inspections get underway. To give you an idea of where the house is located, Show-Me Solar is maybe 150 yards northwest of the red Smithsonian Castle, and already a few S&T faculty in DC for business have stopped by for a visit.
Finally, there is a very real danger on this construction site. Any student assigned a job in which they must lay on their back is in VERY real danger of falling into deep, uncontrollable sleep.
After all, this is now a round-the-clock operation.
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