Third place for Team Sweden and its project Halo at Solar Decathlon China 2013

Solar Decathlon China concluded on Sunday, August 11th in the city of Datong. The event participants included 22 teams from 35 universities with students from over 35 nationalities. 

The competition consists in challenging collegiate teams to design, build and operate solar-powered houses that proves cost-effective, energy-efficient and attractive. The resulting homes demonstrate to everyone how solar-powered houses can be fully functional, comfortable and sustainable living spaces, the Halo project showed an excellent integration of these elements, allowing Team Sweden to earn its third place.

The Swedish group consisted of 26 students with a wide diversity of ethnic, cultural and professional background, their intent was to embrace good design as a collaborative effort and attempt to communicate to colleagues and to the general public that together we can positively affect the ability of architecture to adapt to our natural environment.

Halo, during Solar Decathlon China, has been particularly successful in the segments related to engineering, communication and solar applications.

In the engineering section Halo earned, in fact, the third place. The jury was tasked with evaluating the merit of the engineering design and its implementation, judges felt that the Swedish team produced an elegant and highly efficient system, with an exceptional envelope and a sophisticated mechanical ventilation system. The house proved it could maintain excellent air quality and comfort even in the harshest conditions.

The team has then placed first in the communication segment. Judges noted that the team started with a very clear concept for their house design, then they developed a beautiful, simple, and clear visual identity that reflected the design concept of the house itself. Jurors emphasized how they have carried that visual identity through everything they did and how everything from their website to the exhibit materials was educational, easy to use, and easy to understand. 

Finally, the jury found Halo worthy of the second place in the “Solar Application” segment. Jurors felt the team approached the competition with an excellent attention to detail: array wiring was nearly invisible and inverter wiring was extremely professional. The PV module mounting was robust and reliable. Judges were impressed by the technically sound and well-detailed design of the second place winner .

It’s precisely in solar applications that Italy came into play, the photovoltaic panels used to cover the house were provided by the Turin-based company Solbian Energie Alternative, which worked in collaboration with Sabic, partner in charge of grid-connected installations.

In  his closing speech, Richard King, director of the U.S Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, noted how Team Sweden has been in the top of the standings all through the competition and finished with a strong performance. He also highlited  that he loved the way you had to put your shoes in a basket by the door before entering their house and after touring the house, your shoes were in a basket by the back door. The house designed for college students, as he said, was enjoyed by all and this allowed Team Sweden to get on the podium along with the other winners of Solar Decathlon China 2013.