ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Energy Secretary Steven Chu has selected a team from the University of New Mexico and Arizona State University to compete in next year’s solar decathlon.
The team will be building solar-powered, energy-efficient homes that combine affordability, consumer appeal and good design.
Officials say the team has started a two-year process to design, construct and test their homes in two test sites before reassembling them at the Solar Decathlon 2013 competition site in Irvine, Calif.
Assistant UNM engineering professor Olga Lavrova is co-directing the decathlon project. She says the competition will help foster economic development in solar technologies and related industries in the Southwest.
Lavrova also says the decathlon will provide an opportunity for the public to be educated about sustainable infrastructure.
Photo Credit: Dept of Energy Solar Decathlon
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