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Prof. Hegger explains the technology used in the surPLUShome to Ambassador Scharioth.

(© Germany.info)

Even on a cold, rainy day, Team Germany’s entry in the 2009 Solar Decathlon in Washington, DC, the surPLUShome, is warm and cozy inside and still produces energy, as Ambassador Klaus Scharioth found on his visit to the house on October 14. With nearly every inch of the façade and roof covered in photovoltaic panels, the house is capable of producing twice the amount of energy it uses. On this unusual chilly, overcast day, it was able to benefit from the surplus it had produced over the previous days, living up to the name given to it by the team from Darmstadt University of Technology.

“Impressive,” Ambassador Scharioth remarked of this and other features of the two-story, cube-shaped house as Prof. Manfred Hegger, advisor to the team of 24 architecture and electrical engineering students, showed him around.

“This is an excellent example of the goal of the Transatlantic Climate Bridge initiative, to encourage a dialogue about energy and efficiency,” Ambassador Scharioth said about Germany’s entry in the competition. In fact, Germany’s participation can even be considered export promotion because so many visitors to the house want to know about the technology and products used. It is no coincidence that Germany won in 2007 because Germany is considered a pioneer in the fields of renewable energies and climate protection, the Ambassador said. He wished the team good luck in the final rounds of the 2009 competition.

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Ambassador Scharioth with the students from Darmstadt University of Technology.

(© Germany.info)

Competing against houses built by 19 other teams, the German house has been attracting long lines again this year on the National Mall in the Solar Decathlon village. Winner of the last Solar Decathlon,  held in 2007, Germany is trying to defend its title in the event sponsored by the US Department of Energy.   

This year Team Germany, Prof. Hegger notes, made a point of pushing the available technology to its limits to maximize energy efficiency. For example, the team decided to use only photovoltaic systems, instead of a combination of PV and solar thermal, and thus produced the highest rated “solar power plant” capacity reported by any team before the competition began. The photovoltaic panels are applied as shingles on the façade in addition to a different type of PV panel installed on the roof.

Overall the house has produced 190 kilowatt hours of surplus energy during the first six days of the competition, making it something of a mini power plant.

It was natural for the team from Germany to plan for surplus power production. Germany’s innovative Renewable Energy Act has for years encouraged citizens, businesses and local authorities to generate electricity from renewable sources and to sell any excess to the power utilities.