Light towers illuminate the Solar Decathlon Solar Village at the Orange County Great Park.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 2013 SOLAR DECATHLON OPENS TO PUBLIC THURSDAY AT ORANGE COUNTY GREAT PARK IN IRVINE, CA
Date: Sept. 30, 2013
IRVINE, CA — Student teams adorned with hard hats and tool belts are hard at work putting the finishing touches on the 19 amazing homes being built by university students from around the world who are competing for top recognition at the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon that will open its Solar Village doors to the public free of charge starting at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, CA. The Solar Village will be open for public tours from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. October 3-6 and also October 10-13.
Held this year for the first time outside of Washington, D.C., this, the sixth biennial Solar Decathlon, challenges elite collegiate teams to design, build and operate affordably priced, solar-powered houses that also have exemplary architectural design. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal and design excellence with advanced energy production, optimal renewable energy generation, and super efficiency, according to Richard King, Director, U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon.
“I wanted to recruit the best and the brightest students and challenge them,” said King. “Our goal is to bring the students together to build the Solar Village, and then judge the homes side-by-side for aesthetics and measure them for performance, and to make sure the houses really work.” For more information about the Decathlon competition, visit: www.solardecathlon.gov.
Running concurrently with and contiguous to the Solar Village is the XPO Energy Exposition hosted by the City of Irvine, which will connect businesses to consumers through a showcase of energy-efficient products and technologies and a series of interactive workshops. “We believe our location in Orange County, our master-planned commitment to environmental stewardship from dedicated open space to recycling programs, and our can-do spirit will wonderfully support both the Decathlon and the XPO,” said Irvine Mayor Dr. Steven Choi. To learn more about the XPO, visit: www.the-XPO.org.
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Contact: Dan Carlsson, 949.559.9382