Germany wins gold in U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon
The Solar Decathlon joins 20 college and university teams in a competition to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The solar home designed by architecture students from Germany is a two-story cube covered with solar cells. The entire house is a virtual power generator with 40 single-crystal silicon panels on the roof and about 250 thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) panels on the sides. The 11.1-kW photovoltaic (PV) system is expected to produce 200% times the enery than the house uses.
