Once the competition starts, the house will be lived in to test and prove the veracity of the materials used
The American University of Ras al-Khaimah (AURAK) was awarded a place in the Dubai round of the Solar Decathlon in early October. In total, seven of the 22 universities given a place in the 2018 competition are from the UAE, with four more from the region and the rest coming from different parts of the world.
Solar Decathlon is a US Department of Energy global competition. The next two competitions will be held in partnership with Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) and will run in the Middle East, starting in 2018 and 2020. Each competition runs for two years, during which time students must run their grid-connected, energy efficient homes.
AURAK’s admission to the 2018 competition gives students, guided by faculty members, just over a year to design and build their net zero-energy house. Once the competition kicks off, the house becomes open to the general public and it must face 10 tests (the ‘decathlon’).
The idea behind the competition is that university students work with local industry to design, develop and build a sustainable house that uses cost-effective, energy-efficient materials. It will be reliant on photovoltaic solar panels, and because the grid-connected house will be net zero-energy, must only draw from the grid the energy it has supplied during daylight hours.
Source: Meed
